If I Only Had a NAME
by inner thoughts
Summary: Lee is forced to go out of town for some agency business. Amanda is called up to work with Paul Barnes again in the hunt for the notorious Max Zahn. Finding themselves trapped, Paul helps to distract Amanda from their dire circumstances by telling her how the Scarecrow got his name. Will Lee be able to save his beloved Amanda in time? This story is a sequel to "Blast From the Past
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** _Scarecrow and Mrs. King_ and its characters are property of Warner Bros. and Shoot the Moon Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. Please do not post without permission from the author.

 **TIME:** In between seasons 3 and 4. A few weeks after _All the World's a Stage._ This story is a sequel to another one of my stories, _Blast from the Past._ It is not necessary to read it first before reading this one but would be helpful and I think will make reading this story more enjoyable.

The moon shone down upon the gazebo as a warm July breeze, perfumed with the scent of the blooming roses and lilacs danced across the yard. The moonlight shone through the lattice of the walls creating soft, silvery, diamond patterns across their faces. Her eyes locked with his as they both broke away from the soft kisses they had just exchanged. His hands, wrapped around her waist, pulled her closer to him as he breathed in her scent. Her head found the familiar spot on his shoulder that seemed to belong only to her, as her hands began to explore the hair on the back of his head.

"You are sure making it difficult for me to go home, Amanda" Lee said with a playful lilt in his voice.

Amanda chuckled and sighed at the same time. "I wish you weren't leaving tonight. Maybe if I ask Mr. Melrose…."

"Amanda," Lee began as he slightly pulled away to look her in the eyes. "Billy has already said no…..TWICE. Besides, I am only going to be gone for two days, three TOPS. I hate it as much as you do, but I have to go for my 5-year check-up. Once you are a full time agent, you will have to do the same thing…..and you will see how lousy it is."

Amanda lowered her eyes and pretended to brush something off of Lee's shirt, trying not to show how disappointed she was that she couldn't go.

"I know…..It does seem kind of silly that you have to go and requalify on the shooting range, surveillance and everything else you use every day!"

Lee nodded as he grabbed her hands.

"Yes, it does but all agents have to do it." He lifted her chin in order to meet her gaze. "But I promise that when I come back, we will go do something special. I have heard through the grapevine that a certain cabin may be available!"

Amanda smiled as a slight blush came to her cheeks. Lee leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on the lips which was interrupted by the porch light being flipped on. Lee and Amanda immediately moved to the darkest corner of the gazebo.

"I DIDN'T TAKE IT!" Jamie shouted as he stormed out the door.

"Well, it's NOT where I left it, birdbrain!" Phillip shouted back trailing right behind him.

"Boys! Stop arguing! I'm sure it is around here somewhere!" Dotty said as she completed the trio now gathering on the back porch. "Philip, where did you see it last, this…..what did you call it? Walk With Me?"

"It's a Walk-Man, Grandma and it belongs to Cindy. She's gonna kill me if I lose it. Those things are like $50 bucks!" Philip replied.

"Where did you last see it?" Dotty questioned.

"He THINKS he left it on the kitchen counter, but I never saw it there." Jamie interjected.

"Shut up, nerd! I DID leave it on the counter. I put it there when I got a glass of milk. Then the phone rang, and it was Cindy. I talked to her for a while and now it's GONE! Why can't you just admit that you took it!" Philip shouted at Jamie.

The two boys began to bicker back and forth, each voice trying to out scream the other. Dotty disappeared into the house. Amanda looked at Lee unsure of what to do. She should go break up the boys but if she did, she would give away her hiding spot and her evening with Lee would be over. She looked at Lee and let out a heavy sigh. He gave her a knowing half smile and indicated that it was ok to go referee the boys. Amanda stopped short at the sound of Dotty's voice bellowing from the kitchen.

"I FOUND IT!" she yelled with delight! "I found it ha-ha! I found it!"

Both boys stopped arguing and looked at Dotty.

"Where was it?" Philip yelled as he ran to retrieve the Walk-Man from his Grandmother's hands.

"It was in the refrigerator!" she exclaimed.

"The refrigerator?" Philip questioned.

"Yes! Right next to the milk. When you said that was the last time you remembered seeing it was while you were getting something to drink, it made me think and voila, there it was!"

"SEE! I TOLD YOU I DIDN"T TAKE IT!" Jamie angrily shouted.

"Philip, I think you owe your brother an apology." Dotty said.

Philip sheepishly walked over to Jamie. "I'm sorry that I thought you took it and sorry that I didn't believe you when you said you didn't."

Jamie thought for a moment, not sure if he was ready to accept Philip's apology. He then thought better of it and decided that this would be good leverage to have if he ever needed to make Philip feel guilty about something.

"It's ok, Philip. I accept your apology." Jamie replied.

"There….all better now? Let's get inside before the mosquitos eat us to death." Dotty said as she ushered the boys into the house and shut the door.

Amanda let out the breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. Lee let out a chuckle as he once again wrapped his arms around Amanda.

"That was a close one. Boy, they can really go at it, can't they?" Lee asked.

"That? Oh that was nothing! You should see them when it's about something that REALLY matters. I think it's all part of having a sibling." Amanda replied.

Lee held Amanda close and lightly rubbed her back. "I need to get going, anyway. It's late and I have a 10:00PM flight to catch."

"I suppose you're right. I wish…."

"I know. But it will be nice not having me around for a few days, don't you think? Didn't you say that Billy has some kind of project he wants you on?"

"Haha! Well we'll see what that project is. I have a feeling it is more spring cleaning or something of that nature. I am sure it's going to be something with a lot of paperwork."

"Well, what ever it is, you won't have to do it very long. I will give you a call tomorrow afternoon when we get a break and you can tell me what he has you working on. Deal?"

"Deal!"

The couple exchanged one more kiss, this one slightly more passionate than the soft kisses from earlier in the evening. Lee slowly pulled away and smiled at Amanda.

"Call you tomorrow" he whispered as he turned on his heels and snuck back to his car.

Amanda watched him disappear into the night. She sighed a happy sigh as she walked into the kitchen and turned out the porch light.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

It felt strange to be starting a new workweek without Lee. Amanda knew that he would be back soon and that it was not out of the question that they each have their own assignments to be working on. It was just that since they had been exploring their personal relationship further, they had not spent much time at all apart. Amanda missed Lee, more than she cared to admit to herself. The elevator doors opened and Amanda stepped out onto the floor that would lead her to the bullpen, rearranging the coats and other items in the closet/elevator as she went. Walking through the glass doors of the bullpen, she was surprised that the atmosphere was rather calm and quiet, especially for a Monday morning. That was usually the time when all hell would break loose from the weekend. Amanda worked her way across the room to Billy's office where she had a 9:00 appointment.

"Come!" Amanda heard from behind the door as she knocked. She opened the door and made her way into Billy's office. She was greeted with a smile.

"Good morning, Amanda! How are you this morning?" Billy said in a pleasant baritone voice.

"Good morning, Sir. I am just fine. And yourself?" She replied.

"I'm fine. Love Monday mornings! Fresh start to the week!"

"Yes, that is true!"

"Can I offer you some coffee, Amanda? We have a few minutes to kill before our other party arrives."

"Other party? Who else is joining us? I thought that we were meeting to talk about some reports or other paperwork you wanted me to work on. That is why you wanted to see me, isn't it?"

"Paperwork? No, no! This is much better. I have a field assignment for you."

"Field assignment? By myself? I'm not even…." Amanda began to become agitated. She didn't want to work on a case without Lee.

"Relax, Amanda! You will not be working by yourself. You will be working with…"

Just then the door opened.

"Sorry I'm late. Mrs. Marsten wouldn't let me through until I gave her the code word. I swear it was Bobcat…..turns out it was Tomcat. Isn't that close enough?"

"Paul!" Amanda exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Didn't Billy tell you?"

"I was just about to when you walked in" Billy said.

"Tell me what?" Amanda asked.

"That you and I are working together again, as man and wife!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Let's pick up the pace, old man!"

"Who you callin' old man?" Lee shouted to Jefferies as he ran a few yards behind him.

"You! Usually you are the man to beat, but look who's out in front this time! ME!"

He was right. Lee was usually ahead of everyone on the running qualifier, but this time around, he was feeling his age. He refused to be defeated and mustered up some speed from down deep inside.

"Better check again" Lee called out as he ran past Jefferies and to the finish line. Jefferies finished a few seconds behind him. Both men flopped onto the bench next to the timekeeper and tried to regain their breath.

"You both pass", Agent Renshaw informed them as he scribbled something down on the clipboard he held tightly in his hands.

"What was my time?" Lee asked, breathing heavily.

"38 seconds slower than last time" Renshaw said as he began to walk away. "Target practice is next. Get your weapons and meet me at the gun range in 30 minutes."

The two agents sat on the bench as their heart rates and breathing were returning to normal. Two men ran across the finish line and came to a stop about 50 feet beyond them. To Lee, they looked like babies-barely 20. He also noticed that they were not out of breath after their run. The two young men grabbed their towels and continued on their way. Lee stood up and walked around trying to keep his muscles from tensing up. Jefferies wiped his brow with a towel and proceeded to thirstily gulp down some water from his thermos.

"38 seconds SLOWER? Damn. That's…..that's"

"That's mid 30's is what that is. Remember when we were that age?" Jefferies said gesturing to the younger agents.

"Barely…..in fact, I don't ever think I was that young." Lee replied.

Jefferies let out a laugh. "Oh, yes you were. In fact, I think you were younger when we first met. Both freshly recruited, head strong and stupid!" He laughed again.

Lee chuckled as he let himself think back to his first days as an agent. He was very much headstrong. It got him into trouble from time to time but it also got him noticed as being a good agent. Noticed by the right people in the agency.

"Well, I was headstrong- I'll give you that, but I wouldn't say I was stupid."

Jefferies stood up from the bench.

"No? Hmmm….well should we talk about the Pomfret case and how you almost blew our cover? It was only dumb luck that we weren't killed."

"Dumb luck? No way…..I knew exactly what I was doing"

"Uh-huh", Jefferies said dryly. "What about the time we were supposed to courier the documents to the German agents in Berlin? We were just supposed to drop off the documents, not go after the bad guys. I thought you were going to get skinned alive after that one."

Lee winced a little inside remembering the reaming he got after that case. It's true he didn't do what he was supposed to do, but he saw the opportunity to take down Lukka, so he took it. He almost got 2 agents killed in the process, but in the end, he caught the bad guy and everyone lived.

"Well….I guess it's all how you look at it", Lee smirked.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Paul Barnes smiled smugly at Amanda as he eased back into his chair. A forced smile began to appear on Amanda's face as she tried to understand the situation.

"Amanda," Billy began, "We would like you to work with Paul on this assignment as the Anderson's again. You would play Samantha again and Paul, of course, would be your husband, Cliff."

Amanda quickly flashed back to the case they worked a few months ago when she first became Samantha Anderson. They were after the notorious bomber, Max Kahn, and his accomplice, Hanna Mahler. She can still see the ice blue eyes of Max as he stared her down on that dark path, and she could still hear the gun shot that rang out as it was fired into Lee's chest.

"Are we going after Max Kahn again?" Amanda inquired.

"Indirectly, yes." Billy said.

Amanda looked at Billy with a puzzled expression.

"This time, we're chasing after some ghosts." Paul flatly stated.

"Ghosts?" Amanda asked with a wide-eyed expression on her face.

"Nazi ghosts" Paul continued.

A deep state of confusion registered across Amanda's face and she tried to imagine what in the world Paul could be talking about. She turned her attention to Billy as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Amanda, you're not exactly searching for Nazis or their ghosts, but rather for some stolen art." Billy explained.

"Huh? Now I'm really confused!" Amanda said.

Paul began, "During World War II, Hitler ordered the Nazis to steal thousands of works of art-paintings, statues, ceramics, books…all kinds of things. Some of it was recovered, and some of it was not."

"I thought that it is believed that the art work that has not been recovered has been destroyed." Amanda replied.

"Believed, but not proven." Paul answered. "Recently, we got word through our channels that 5 of the missing pieces were discovered, moved and hidden again."

"Where was it moved to?" she asked.

"We don't know. But there is a name that keeps coming up, Prescott Powers."

"Prescott Powers…..why do I know that name?" Amanda said inquisitively.

"Prescott Powers is the CEO of the Landin Corporation. They have been in the news a lot lately for their donations to the Smithsonian museums, specifically to the art museum." Billy said.

Amanda nodded her head in recognition. "Oh yes, I read about him in the paper last week. Mother was excited to go see the new exhibit."

"Here, take a look at these" Paul said as he slid a folder across the desk to her.

Amanda opened the folder and found photographs of paintings and sketches. She carefully studied each image before moving on to the next one. After several minutes, she began to speak.

"I recognize this picture. It was in the paper along with the article about the Smithsonian. But, I don't recognize these others. Are they some of the stolen art?"

"No", Paul said, "we are not sure what they are, where they came from or who painted them. We have cross referenced them with every resource we know."

"So why are they so important?"

"We don't know. But we do know they are somehow connected to the stolen art from World War II. Some of the people that have been dealing in stolen art have been recently connected with Max Kahn. We think that maybe Max is selling the stolen art to help fund his terroristic bombings that have arisen over the last few years. We are hoping that we can figure out what Prescott Powers has to do with this and maybe lead us to Kahn. That's where you and Paul come in", Billy said.

"As Cliff and Samantha?" Amanda asked.

"Exactly! We will be attending the preview of the new exhibit that Power's has donated to the Smithsonian. It is going to be at his house. And while we're there, we will be doing a little snooping to see if we can figure out how he is connected to the art that was stolen over 40 years ago and to Kahn." Paul said.

"Why do this as Cliff and Samantha? Certainly there must be other ways to get to that party?" she asked.

"Well, not for me. Senator Johnston will be there and he remembers me as Cliff Anderson and his wife will be there, too. She took quite a shine to you, if you remember."

"Oh, I remember! How could I forget one of the biggest gossips I have ever met. I learned lots of things that I shouldn't have at that party."

"Exactly! And that is one of the reasons that I need you to go with me to this party. I need to reconnect with Mrs. Johnston and see what you can find out."

Amanda thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement. Kahn could have easily killed her the last time they met if she hadn't accidentally knocked the gun from his hand. She didn't like the idea of going up against some of these dangerous people without Lee by her side and she knew Lee wouldn't be pleased that she was working with Paul again as his wife, but she couldn't worry about that now. She had a job to do. The Agency needed her.

"Ok, when do we go?" she asked.

"Tonight. I will pick you up at 5:00. You will have until then to read up on some of the artwork that is being donated. Samantha has a real interest in art." Paul said with a smile.

"Why don't you head down to wardrobe, Amanda and they will get you suited up for tonight." Billy said.

Paul stood up and rubbed his hands together. Amanda quickly followed. He grabbed her hand and softly kissed the back of it.

"Until tonight!" he said as he exited Billy's office.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Stetson, Jefferies- You're up!" barked the agent running the gun range.

Lee walked to his assigned target area. Before him was a wide variety of weaponry to choose from. He would have to get a passing score on each of the weapons laid out before him. He wasn't worried, he has always been a great shot. The knife throwing was going to be more difficult, but he knew passing wouldn't be a problem. At one time, this was the most exciting thing in the world to him. Lee loved the guns and grenades of the qualifier. He would always get the best score out of any of the agents. And to his knowledge, his record of most kill zone shots still stood at the training camp. But, today his mind was somewhere else. It was on Amanda and wondering how she was and what mundane assignment Billy has her working on. He was sure it would be catching up on the paperwork of the last month of reports he didn't file.

"Poor Amanda….she must be bored out of her mind" he thought to himself as he picked up the .22 and shot a bullet right into the heart of the target in front of him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Amanda began to read through the case file as she waited for Lucinda to get back with her wardrobe that would once again turn her into Samantha Anderson. In it she found a photograph of Prescott Powers. He was a tall, lanky man with dark curly hair that he wore somewhat long. He was well dressed and clean-shaven. She flipped to the next page in the file and began to study the photos of the artwork. She didn't recognize any of the paintings, but she couldn't help but feel that there was something familiar about them. The artist of 3 of the paintings wasn't listed anywhere in the file. It was those paintings that drew her attention the most. Amanda turned the next page and let out an audible gasp. There, staring up at her was Max Kahn and his ice blue eyes. She knew that he had to be caught, but a big part of her hoped that it wouldn't be by her or Paul.

"Mrs. King?", Amanda heard Lucinda say. "I think we are ready to have you try some things on now. Step back to the dressing area if you wouldn't mind."

Amanda smiled and closed the folder. She wondered how fancy her outfits were going to be this time. She enjoyed the character of Samantha, but she really wished Lee was playing her husband and not Paul. She respected Paul and knew he was a great agent. She was very flattered that Paul had chosen her to work with him, but she didn't feel as safe with Paul as she did with Lee.

"Yes, of course" Amanda said as she stood up and closed the folder.

As Amanda began to cross the room, she wondered if she shouldn't go stop and see Leatherneck for a bit of self-defense training.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Amanda let out a heavy sigh at the sight of her dirty kitchen. Clearly the boys had made themselves a snack after school and used every dish and utensil that they owned.

"Boys! Kitchen! NOW!" she yelled up the stairs.

Philip and Jamie came bounding down the stairs sounding like a herd of elephants as they took the stairs 2 at a time. Jamie ran into the kitchen first as he caught the football that Philip tossed to him, barely missing the open gallon of milk on the counter.

"What's up mom?", Philip asked.

"What's up? Boys look at this kitchen! It's a mess! It wasn't like this when I left for work this morning! What happened?" Amanda asked.

"Gee, Mom-we were hungry when we got home from school and made a snack." Jamie answered.

"Did you have to use so many dishes? And please remember to put the milk back in the refrigerator when you are done with it or it goes bad."

"Ok, mom. Sorry." Philip replied.

"It's ok. Just be more careful with your snacks next time, ok? Clean up this mess. I have to go back to work soon. Where is your grandmother?"

Jamie and Philip looked at each other and shrugged.

"Not sure, I think she may have said something about going to Mrs. Gilstrap's house." Jamie answered.

Amanda let out another small sigh.

"Ok, I really need to go get ready. Can you boys handle this yourselves and work on your homework until your grandmother gets back?"

"Sure thing, mom!" Jamie replied.

Amanda smiled as she grabbed her garment bag and headed up the stairs to begin her transformation into Samantha Anderson. Her stomach continued to churn at the uneasiness she felt going on this mission without Lee. She and Paul had worked well on their last mission, but she had felt safe and secure knowing that Lee was there, too. To be honest, she had a great deal of fun working with Paul and playing Samantha Anderson and was happy to be doing it again. But deep down, part of her felt like she was somehow cheating on Lee. It didn't feel right to be off on a mission without him involved in any way.

"It will be alright" she said aloud to herself as she unzipped the garment bag and removed the Chanel pantsuit that the Agency had issued her. She already owned something very similar to the black dress pants and white sleeveless top that hung on the hanger before her, but this was a REAL Chanel, something worthy of wealthy Samantha Anderson. Amanda gently smoothed out the wrinkles on the front of the blouse and smiled. She liked the fancy clothes she got to wear from time to time on missions. She glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table and realized that she should quickly get in the shower if she were going to be ready in time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Lee lay on his bed back in his bunk at the training center. Every muscle hurt and complained at the slightest twitch or movement. He could hear Jefferies groaning as he walked down the hall.

"Jefferies!" Lee shouted from his bed.

Jefferies pushed open Lee's door and leaned against the door frame.

"Are you as sore as I am?" he asked Lee.

Lee struggled to sit up without letting his aches and pains be voiced. "At least….probably more." He replied. The two men looked at each other and laughed. "When did we get so old?" Lee said with a whimsical lilt to his voice. Jefferies began to shake his head as he made his way over to the edge of Lee's bed and sat down with an 'ooofff'.

"Well, we're not 24 any more, that is for sure, but I'm not ready to label myself as old just yet. Maybe "out of practice" is a better way to put it." Jefferies replied.

"Ok, I will go along with that. At least my kill zone shot record still holds." Lee said with a smile.

"I could use a drink. Got anything here?" Jefferies asked Lee.

He shook his head as he swung his legs over the bed and stood up.

"Nope, but I could really go for a belt, myself." He replied. "I wonder what they will put us through tomorrow? I don't know if I can take it."

"Come on" Jefferies encouraged, "I've got a nice bottle of 15-year old Scotch in my room. I think we've earned it."

"Oh, I couldn't agree more!" Lee said as he placed his hand on the door knob and pulled the door open. Just then, he was startled by Agent Sousa in mid preparation to knock on Lee's door.

"Agent Sousa! I didn't hear you there. Won't you come in?" Lee offered.

The white-haired senior agent took a few steps inside the room and took notice of Agent Jefferies in the rooms as well.

"Good evening, gentlemen." He said. "Good fortune finding you both together. Saves me another stop."

"What can we do for you, Sir?" Jefferies inquired.

"Just stopped by to let you know you both passed all your requalifiers and can head home tomorrow." Sousa stated.

Lee and Jefferies looked at each other, a bit confused.

"Tomorrow?" Lee asked hopefully. "I thought we were here through tomorrow evening."

"Well, originally you were, but we have a large group of new recruits coming in day after tomorrow and Agent Tabor fell from the zip line this afternoon and broke his ankle. So now we need to reconfigure everything, and well, to put it plainly, we don't need to see any more from you more experienced agents. You are free to leave first thing in the morning. And may I add, well done on your qualifying tests. Nice to see two men of your age still performing as well as you did. Have a good night, gentlemen." Sousa said to them both, turned and exited Lee's room, shutting the door behind him.

Lee's face looked as if he smelled something foul. "Two men of your age?" He stated out loud in a questioning tone. "Two men of YOUR AGE?" he repeated. "How the hell old does he think we are?"

Jefferies laughed. "Who the hell cares? We get to go home tomorrow and not be tortured anymore!"

Lee's face lit up with acknowledgement. He slapped Jefferies on the shoulder and chuckled. "Yea! You're right!"

"How about that drink? Now we DEFINITELY have something to celebrate!" Jefferies said as he was half way out the door.

"That we do!" Lee said as he followed Jefferies out the door and down the hall.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Amanda put the finishing touches to her ensemble by clasping the beautiful, dangling diamond earrings the Agency had outfitted her with. She wondered how much they cost as she was almost positive that they were real. More than she could afford on her agency salary, that's all she knew. Amanda picked up her beaded bag and turned to head downstairs. The phone began to ring and was picked up after barely one full ring.

"Mom? Moooommmmmm! Phone for you!" Philip yelled up the stairs.

"Ok, Sweetheart, thank you! I've got it." Amanda said as she picked up the receiver and waited until she heard the 'click' indicating that Philip had hung up on the other end.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey there!" a pleasant baritone voice replied.

"Lee!" she exclaimed! "Lee, how are you? How is everything?"

Lee could hear the smile in her voice that matched the one that he wore on his own face. "Everything is good, great even! I get to come home tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow? Really? Wow that's great! I thought you wouldn't be back until at least Wednesday." Amanda replied.

"Well, so did I. One of the trainers had a bit of an accident and they are letting us older agents go home early. They said they saw everything that they really needed to see." Lee told her.

"Wonderful! How were the qualifiers? As bad as you feared?" She asked.

"No! Piece of cake", Lee replied rubbing his sore quads. "How about you? What's the project that Billy has you working on?"

Amanda wondered if she should tell Lee that she would be working with Paul again as Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. He wasn't too thrilled about it the last time, and that was before they began seeing each other romantically. She was sure that he would definitely be disgruntled at the news.

"Amanda? Are you still there?" she heard his voice ask.

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm here. Sorry…the boys were fighting." She fibbed.

"So, what does Billy have you working on?" he asked again.

"Oh! Well, actually he has me working on a case of stolen art." She said without revealing too much.

"Stolen art? Why is that a concern of the Agency?" Lee inquired.

"Well, may be nothing. It depends on what we find tonight." She stated.

"Tonight? What is happening tonight?" He asked with an edge of alarm in his voice. If she were going out tonight, she would be putting herself in a potentially dangerous situation and he wasn't there to protect her.

"We are going to a preview of an art exhibit that will be opening later this week." She said as nonchalantly as possible.

"We?" Lee pressed. "Who is going with you?"

"Who?" Amanda repeated. "Oh, um Paul and I have been assigned to work again." Amanda cringed waiting for the reply. She waited, but no immediate one came, which she knew was worse. Then after what seemed like an eternity, Lee spoke.

"Paul? BARNES?" he bellowed. "Why the hell are you working with Paul Barnes again?"

Amanda suddenly became nervous and began to ramble.

"Well, it seems that the art could be some of the missing art from WWII….and Billy said that it is very possible that someone has been selling some of this art to fund the terrorists that they are connected to….so we are going to a preview show to snoop around and at this party will be Senator Johnston and his wife. You remember them from the party a few months ago where we saved Mrs. Regan from being blown up? Well, of course you remember. Billy wants me to get close to Mrs. Johnston to see if she will give up her gift of gab and spill some information that we might not know about and…."

"Amanda….." Lee attempted to interrupt to no avail.

"and while I am doing that, Paul is going to try to snoop around the house and see what he can find. You should see the outfit that the Agency gave me to wear, oh and the earrings…"

"A-MAN-DA!" Lee shouted. Amanda abruptly stopped talking.

"What?" she said.

Lee let out a heavy sigh.

"Last time you and Paul worked together you were the married couple, the Anderson's." Lee said through a tight jaw.

"Um….uh-huh that's right." Amanda confirmed.

"Is that who you are playing tonight? His wife?" Lee asked, trying to repress his jealousy.

"Um, well…well yes, it is as a matter of fact. I will be going as Samantha Anderson again tonight. Thus, this designer outfit and this huge diamond earrings." She stated matter of fact.

There was no reply on the other end of the phone. Amanda began to speak again.

"We will only be gone a few hours and it should be a piece of cake. NO need to worry, Lee." She said assuredly.

"Amanda….you listen to me! You keep your eyes and ears open tonight and don't let your guard down. Paul doesn't look out for you like…..well, you just be careful. And don't let him talk you into taking any unnecessary risks. Do you hear me?" Lee said with an almost frantic nature to his voice.

"Lee, you don't need to worry. I'm going to be fine." Just then, Amanda heard a car pull up outside and the car door shut. She needed to get downstairs to meet Paul before one of the boys answered the door. "Lee, I have to go. Paul is here to pick me up and I don't want him coming to the door. I will tell you all about it tomorrow. Have a safe flight!"

"Amanda! No wait…" Lee tried to get her attention, but it was too late. She had hung up and was on her way out into the field with Paul. Paul didn't watch her the way that he did. She would be virtually unprotected, at least that is what Lee assumed. He began to pace back and forth within his room. He then began to think of the way in which Paul sometimes looked at Amanda, like his next conquest. Lee knew how Paul could get after a mission, especially a successful one. He liked to "celebrate" and Amanda would be the closest thing to grab. He needed to get back, tonight. Lee quickly grabbed his suitcase from the closet and began to throw his belongings in it. Picking up the phone receiver, he dialed '0'.

"Operator? Please connect me to American Airlines."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Amanda barely got to the door before Philip. She had to actually hip check him out of the way.

"You and your brother finish your homework and no more snacks before dinner. Your grandmother will be back at 5:30. Got it?" She said to Philip as she kissed him on the head.

"Got it, Mom" Philip replied as he ran back towards the den.

"Good bye, Jamie! See you in the morning!" Amanda yelled to her youngest as she opened the door.

On the other side of the door was Paul dressed in his best black suit complete with a dark purple paisley tie.

"Hello, my dear! Don't you look lovely!" Paul said as he kissed the back of her hand.

Amanda casually but purposefully pulled her hand back and continued to the car. "Why thank you. And don't you look handsome?'

Paul opened the door of the black BMW that he was driving for the evening. Amanda climbed in and fastened her seatbelt. As the car pulled away, Amanda let out a heavy sigh.

"Nervous?" Paul asked.

"A bit." She admitted.

"It will be fine. I just need you to keep Mrs. Johnston occupied while I do a little snooping. I don't anticipate that we will be there more than an hour or so. Just see if you can get her talking about….well everything."

Amanda chuckled. "Oh! Is that all? No pressure!"

"You know what I mean. Just listen to whatever she wants to talk about and if she happens to know about any of the paintings coming up for sale…."

"Yeah, I know. Let her talk and remember every detail." She let out a heavy sigh.

"Something like that." Paul said with a smile as he grasped her hand. "Don't worry, Samantha, it will be ok."

Amanda let out a soft laugh. "Thanks, Cliff, I appreciate it." She remained silent for a moment lost in thought, then began to ask some questions about their evening.

"How many people are expected at this party?"

"I don't know exactly, but I would guess around 40. Enough that it should be easy to get lost in the crowd in case I need to sneak away, if you catch my drift." Paul replied.

"Oh, I do." She remained quiet again, the wheels in her brain turning furiously. "And there is no chance of running into Kahn tonight?"

"Well, I can't guarantee that there is a zero chance, but highly unlikely. The last intelligence reports show Kahn in the Ukraine, nowhere near here. Are you worried?" Paul asked with a level of concern to his voice.

"Well, I don't think I am exactly worried, but maybe curious is a better word. Don't you think that it's strange that the last time we ran into Kahn it was at Senator Johnston's house and how, we are investigating this missing art work that we think may be connected to Kahn and again…..Senator Johnston is close by. Isn't that strange? Could he be wrapped up in the terror cell in some way?" Amanda wondered.

Paul let out a heavy sigh and tightly gripped the steering wheel. "Those are some great observations and some tough questions. The thought has crossed my mind at least, but honestly, we just don't know. I would love to say that it is just coincidence, but when you have been doing this job as long as I have, you come to realize that there is no such thing."

Amanda's mouth twisted as she bit the inside of her cheek. This was not what she wanted to hear.

"Hopefully, after tonight we will have a better idea just who is involved. I need you to keep Mrs. Johnston busy and talking. I guarantee that she will have SOME nugget of information about, well could be anything. But, you never know when you might need some of the information you hear tonight." Paul continued.

"What if I can't get her to talk tonight?" Amanda worried.

Paul chuckled. "I don't think that will be a problem. Last time, within 10 minutes you had her revealing secrets about everyone at the party and got us a seat at the Senator's table. No, Amanda, you are the woman for this job. I have no doubt that tonight will be successful in one way or another."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Prescott Powers dashed back and forth from painting to painting as he made last minute adjustments to the gallery exhibit. Running his hand through his black, curly hair, he took a moment to breathe and admire the artwork on the wall. He still wasn't sure of the still life that he chose to include in the exhibit; it was beautiful, but he didn't quite feel that it was in the same caliber as the others. Something about the way the sunlight was painted seemed….off, false almost. To the average person, they would see nothing wrong, but to him, it stood out like a sore thumb….like a mustache on the Mona Lisa. He checked his watch and realized that he only had a short amount of time to go get changed before the guest would arrive. The still life would just have to stay there, nothing he could do about it now.

Paul pulled up to the beautiful Tudor style mansion. Amanda gasped at the sheer beauty of the architecture-the warm stones with the ornate trim accenting the lines of the roof, so many beautiful windows, the spectacular and immaculately manicured grounds. Paul heard her murmur a soft "wow" as the car pulled nearer to the valet parking.

"Don't get too excited, Samantha. Remember, we live in places like this!" Paul said as he grasped her hand and softly kissed the back of it.

"Oh, right!" Amanda replied as she let out a sigh and sat up straighter in her seat.

"Good evening, sir!" the valet said. "May I park your car?"

"Ah, yes! Thank you, young man! Don't scratch her!" Paul replied as he walked around the back of the BMW and opened the door for Amanda.

"Of course not, sir! Have a pleasant evening." The valet said as he drove away in the car.

Cliff and Samantha began their ascent of the stairs leading up to the front door. The sound of laughter could be heard from the guests inside. Amanda looked at Paul and tightly wrapped her arm around his and gave him a somewhat forced smile.

"Come, my darling. I could use a drink." Paul said.

SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK

"And if you look closely, you can see the face of his mother painted here in the bark of the tree", Prescott Powers said as he gestured to the painting on the wall. "And, it is said that Dupuis chose the weeping willow specifically to represent the tumultuous relationship that he had with her. It is rumored that her husband, Dupuis father, did not die of natural causes, but at the hand of his mother, Martha. It could never be proved but if you look at the body of work of Dupuis, you can see small clues to this theory tucked into every painting, and every sculpture."

The small crowd began to murmur sounds of astonishment. Amanda sipped her champagne as she turned around to look at the painting on the wall behind her. So far, she was enjoying herself. There was no one here that she recognized. Senator and Mrs. Johnston were supposed to be here tonight, but so far there was no sign of them. Amanda made small talk to the other guests of the party as Paul did some snooping of his own.

"It's beautiful, don't you think?" a voice said from behind Amanda.

She quickly turned around to find Prescott Powers smiling at her.

"Oh! Yes, it is very lovely." She replied with a happy yet cautious tone. "I really enjoyed learning more about the Dupuis painting. I love when the paintings have hidden stories that are not obvious."

Prescott looked down at his glass of merlot and smiled a sad smile. Amanda was taken aback at this response.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Amanda asked.

Prescott looked up from his wine and let out a small laugh through his nose.

"No, no. It's just that….." Prescott paused before continuing. "Well, if you only knew how many stories there are in this very room." He took another moment to think as he sipped his wine. "I am Prescott Powers, by the way. And you are?"

Amanda smiled and offered out her hand. "Samantha Anderson. Very nice to meet you." Prescott shook her hand. She smiled as she looked into the man's deep brown eyes. She thought there was also sadness to be found there, but then again, she thought to herself, artists could be very moody and temperamental. "This show is very impressive. They are all so beautiful. I recognize that one over there from the article in the paper a few days ago."

"Oh yes! That one is very special. It was donated to the collection by someone that wishes to remain anonymous." Powers said.

"Oh? Who is the artist? It really is quite breath taking." Amanda replied looking at the landscape painting, with its rich blues and purples, vibrant yet subtle yellows and reds…..a true choreographed dance of color.

"Well, he wants to remain anonymous as well." Powers replied as he sipped his wine.

"Ah, I see" Amanda replied. "Tell me Mr. Powers, do you paint?"

"Me? No. Just a true lover of art. Well, I guess that is not entirely true. I used to paint…sculpt too, but that was so long ago. Was hard to make a living as an artist. Took a job a many years ago with Landin Corp. that was meant to be a temporary thing…and 25 years later here I am, CEO. Almost the furthest thing away I could be doing from making art. But, I still love it, collect it….and show it when I get the chance." Powers replied.

"Oh! Well, I understand that. Life often takes us in directions that we don't expect." Amanda said skimming over her own life in her mind.

"You can say that again, Mrs. Anderson!" He said as he offered up his wine glass to toast with hers.

She obliged and clinked glasses with the tall, curly haired man. Over his shoulder, she noticed Paul talking and laughing with Senator Johnston. She wondered if Paul had found anything since he left her. If the senator had arrived, she wondered how long it would be until she saw…..

"Samantha?!" a familiar voice sounded from across the room.

Amanda turned around and saw Mrs. Johnston headed her way. "evidently, not long at all." She said to herself. "Showtime….Mrs. Johnston! Is that you? How wonderful to see you again!"

Mrs. Johnston embraced Amanda. "Oh, Samantha, dear! What are you doing here? How nice to see you!"

"Mrs. Johnston, can I introduce you to…" Amanda started.

"Oh, Samantha, dear, Prescott and I are old friends. How have you been?" She said to Prescott grabbing his hand in a warm embrace.

"Thank you for coming, Janet." He began. Just then, the expression on his face changed from happiness to very nervous. He grew pale as he eyed something across the room. "You'll excuse me." He said as he quickly left the room. Amanda turned to see what made him so nervous. She two men quickly walking across the landing towards the direction that Powers left. Amanda didn't recognize them but had seen Paul speaking with them earlier.

"Well, Samantha…what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?" Janet asked with great excitement.

"Cliff and I heard about the show and thought maybe we could pick up a few new pieces before we head out west." Amanda said, nervously playing with her prop engagement ring and wedding band.

"Napa?"

"No, Tahoe. I have had a need for some time among the beautiful scenery there. How have you been, Mrs. Johnston?" Amanda asked.

"Oh please, dear…call me Janet. I have been well. Things are a little slow around here lately, but a month ago….well, things were really hopping!" Janet said as she got closer to Amanda.

"Oh? What happened a month ago?" Amanda asked knowing that this is what she had been waiting for.

Janet placed her hand in the crook of Amanda's arm as she began to whisper. "Well, I shouldn't be repeating any of this but, well you know me. Last month, it all started after the German embassy ball…"

Paul observed Amanda talking to the senator's wife. He hoped that perhaps Mrs. Johnston's loose lips would spill some tidbit of information that would be helpful in this case and he knew if there was anyone that could get Mrs. Johnston to talk, it was Amanda.

"Ah! I see that Janet has found Samantha. You know, she really is quite fond of your wife, Cliff. I know she is very happy to see her." Senator Johnston said to Paul as they both observed the women's reunion.

"And Samantha is fond of her, too. How have the two of you been?" Cliff asked as he grabbed two snifters of brandy from the tray one of the waiters was passing and offered one to the senator.

"Well, we've been doing fine. Last month was a bit crazy but things have calmed down now and we're just fine." The senator said as he swirled the brandy in the glass.

"Good crazy, or bad crazy?" Cliff asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Well, bad I'm afraid. But the worst of it seems behind us. How about you? How have you been, Cliff? Buy any new properties lately?" The Senator said in a ribbing manner. Paul and Amanda's cover, The Anderson's were wealthy jet setters that owned many properties around the world. This allowed 'Cliff" to have a wide knowledge of political happenings around the world, more than the average person. It helped him to keep his cover more than once.

"Ha ha!" Paul chortled. "Nothing new since I have seen you, but Sam is anxious to redo the Tahoe house. We're headed there in a few days."

"Oh, I see. Well, perhaps you can find some nice new paintings here for the house." The senator suggested.

"That's exactly what Sam said when she dragged me here tonight!" Cliff replied. He then noticed Prescott Powers being escorted towards the back of the property with the two men he had been speaking with before. They introduced themselves as Osterman and Howe, but Paul knew Osterman by another name, Rickman. Rickman had been involved with some smuggling of jewels and small weapons last November. There had been rumor that he was getting involved in something more heavy, but that is all Paul knew- rumor. His presence here had been unexpected but not surprising. He wondered if perhaps they had stumbled onto something more involved than some stolen art.

"Dragged?" The senator said wryly. "I thought you two were art lovers."

"Well, It's not that I don't like art, but Samantha is really the art lover. I had other things I hoped to get done tonight before we leave to go to Tahoe. Plus, I know tonight is going to cause a dent in my checking account. Samantha never goes to a show and doesn't find something that she has to have."

The two gentlemen laughed and sipped their brandy. Paul noticed Amanda trying to get his attention a few yards away.

"If you'll excuse me, Senator, I'm going to see what my wife is up to and what she 'can't live without'." Paul said and walked across the room to rendezvous with Amanda.

"Hello, darling. How much money have you spent so far?" Paul asked as he moved in to kiss Amanda on the lips. The 3rd alcoholic beverage of the evening was making him feel less inhibited, and he felt the kiss would make them look more genuine as a couple, at least that is what he said to himself as he made the bold move. Amanda was surprised at this but went along with the act, kissing him back as briefly as she could without making it look unwelcomed.

"Well, nothing so far but I do want to show you this one painting I think we need." Amanda said as she drew Paul to a quiet corner of the gallery were no one was around to hear them talk. "Just look at the colors of this landscape! Aren't they breathtaking?" Amanda said as she turned Paul towards the painting.

"How was your chat with Janet Johnston? Get anything useful?" Paul asked in a hushed tone.

"Boy, howdy! I sure did!" Amanda said matching his tone. "And look at the way the sun cuts through the clouds and shines on the valley below. I love it" She said more loudly as a couple walked passed them.

They both looked at the painting for a moment while they waited for the couple to be out of ear shot. Amanda pulled Paul down onto a bench and faced the painting. She slid as close to him as possible, as he placed his arm around her waist and drew her to him. She began to whisper.

"Mrs. Johnston told me that about a month ago, some trouble arose at the German Embassy Ball. It seems as if some sensitive documents were stolen out of the safe."

"I had heard something about this, but the embassy assured us that it was a mistake. The documents were recovered." Paul replied.

"Well, not according to Mrs. Johnston. She said that she overheard that the documents that were stolen were the defection papers from an East German operative that was going to defect to the United States and provide us with information on the bombings that have been happening at the US Embassies around Europe. His name was Georg Steiner."

Paul took in the information and slowly nodded his head and made a low 'umm hummm" in his throat.

"But there is more…..because the papers were stolen, they missed the window to get him into the US through the proper channels.." Amanda continued. "For a while, the Johnston's were under investigation. The government thought that they had something to do with it, which of course they didn't…..at least I don't think they did. But you know, you can never be too careful. Sometimes you think you know someone and then, BAM! One day they surprise you with something that you never thought they would do. Take my Aunt Janice and her husband, Ray….well she was really Joe's aunt, so my aunt by marriage…"

Paul squeezed Amanda's hand and looked at her deep in the eyes telling her to get back to the story. She opened her eyes wide and gave him a knowing half smile that meant she knew she had been rambling again.

"Right, sorry…..so it turns out that they found the papers 2 days later on one of the interns that worked for Senator Johnston. He was dead. I remember reading something about that in the paper. They said he died of an allergic reaction to something. I'm guessing now it wasn't an accident. The senator didn't know him well, he had only been working there for a few weeks. Do you think he was a plant, you know from the Russians?" Amanda asked in a whisper.

Paul slowly nodded his head. "Could be, but why the Johnston's? Senator Johnston's record is clean, squeaky clean. He's one of the legitimately cleanest senators on the Hill."

Amanda looked around to make sure no one was listening. She drew even closer to Paul and played with his hair to try and mask the fact she was whispering important information to him. "I think I know." She said in an airy tone. "Mrs. Johnston said that the night of the ball at the German Embassy, she saw Max Kahn running down the hallway and out the door by the kitchen."

Paul's eyes grew wide as saucers. He resisted the urge to pull back in shock but instead stayed close with Amanda. "Kahn? Are you sure?"

"Yes! She said! Mrs. Johnston was positive it was him. She has seen him several times and said she would never forget his face, especially after what happened to poor Hanna at their party." Amanda remembered running into Kahn on the dark path in the gardens at the Johnston estate. Hanna had been killed by Kahn and Amanda knew if circumstances had been different, she also would have died that night. Kahn was determined to kill Mrs. Reagan as she visited the rose gardens at the Johnston home. Thankfully, Dotty's love of gardening had worn off on Amanda and she figured out the clue as to where the bomb was hidden with very little time to spare. "When she brought it to the attention of her husband, she was told she must have been mistaken, that the man she saw was Mark Leonard, an art dealer from Austria."

At this Paul did pull back from Amanda and smiled. "I knew it! I knew that Kahn was tied up somehow in these paintings."

Amanda looked at him in a confused manner. "I'm still not sure how or if he actually is involved."

"Neither am I Amanda, but I know it in my gut. I knew Kahn had to be mixed up in this. Come on, let's take a walk."

Cliff and Samantha stood up and walked out of the gallery and towards the French doors that lead out to the patio and to the direction that Paul felt would lead them to more information about Kahn.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Lee buckled his seatbelt and closed his eyes. He barely made the flight. They were closing the doors when he ran down the jetway. The stewardess gladly let him in after Lee flashed her one of his knee-weakening smiles. In fact, not only did she let him board the plane, she seated him in the open first-class seat in aisle 3, just so she could be sure to tend to his needs during the flight. Lee tried not to think about how Amanda and Paul's mission was going. He quickly looked at his watch and realized that she probably wasn't home yet. He hated the fact that she was out in the field without him. Amanda had grown into a damn good agent over the years, but he still felt the need to protect her. He knew that was something Paul wouldn't do. He wouldn't keep the extra eye out for Amanda's safety. Hopefully this assignment was more of an information getting type than one that really put her into any danger.

"May I serve you?" Lee heard a female voice say. He opened his eyes to find the toothy smile of the pretty blonde stewardess looking down at him.

"What?" he asked.

"May I serve you a beverage?" She said indicating the choices on her beverage cart.

"uh, yeah, ok sure. I'll have a Scotch and soda." He replied.

"Of course, sir." She said as she carefully made the drink for Lee. "Will there be anything else?" she asked as she handed him the drink and a white cocktail napkin.

"No, thank you….this will do fine." He replied trying not to make eye contact.

"Well you let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. Anything at all." She said with a wink as she continued to push her cart down the aisle.

Lee began to slowly sip his drink as his mind began to wander to thoughts of Amanda. It had only been about a month since that first kiss in the Q Bureau. It had been such a long time coming. He had been afraid to admit his feelings for her, that he needed her, that he wanted her and wanted to possess her. He had never felt that way about a woman before and it terrified him. But finally, he could no longer contain his feelings, his desires. He needed to kiss her, to taste her lips on his, to feel her body pressed against him-so small but so powerful. When he clicked the lock closed on the room to his office, keeping out Billy, Francine and the world, he knew it had to be then. He could no longer wait to make her his. Her eyes told him that she felt the same. In that moment, he no longer felt afraid, he only felt the hunger and need for her. When their lips touched, it was like no feeling he had ever had before. In that moment, she was his and he was hers. There was no turning back. He had lost his heart and soul to this woman and he knew it was in safekeeping with her.

Lee took another sip of his Scotch and soda. He felt his muscles begin to relax a bit. He was thankful that this flight wasn't long. He should be home before 11:00PM which was about the time that Amanda should be getting home from the mission. He would drive over to Maplewood Drive and see her before he drove back to his own apartment. He needed to put his own eyes on her to make sure she was indeed safe.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Paul pulled Amanda by the hand out onto the patio. The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was turning many shades of pinks, oranges and purples. The back yard was as manicured and beautifully landscaped as the front yard. There were topiaries in the shapes of tall cones, small fountains surrounded by marbled walkways and 100's upon 100's of flowers. A waiter walked by them with a tray of champagne, one of which Paul grabbed and quickly drank in one gulp.

"Do you see that building?" Paul said as he indicated with his empty champagne flout towards the small, brown shingled outbuilding. I saw Rickman going in and out of there earlier tonight."

"Who is Rickman?" Amanda asked.

"Rickman is a small-time smuggler that has, as of late, been getting involved with big-time smuggling. And he is known to everyone here as Osterman, not Rickman. He is attached at the hip to someone named Howe." He replied.

"How do you know that Osterman is Rickman?" Amanda wanted to know.

"He was busted last November. His file came across my desk as a person of interest. He seems to be working his way up to something big, and I think that something might be here." Paul said.

"Like stolen art?" She asked.

"Very well could be. In fact, I would bet money on it." Paul said flatly as he looked for a place to put down his glass. "Come on, let's go check it out."

Paul and Amanda snuck over to the building. The thick trees made for a good cover in which to not be seen. As they got closer, they could hear arguing. Amanda recognized one of the voices as Prescott Powers.

"Look, I'm working as fast as I can. Art takes time, I need more time." Powers said.

"That is something we cannot give you. The paintings need to be shipped tomorrow morning. You know that as well as I do." Said the voice of another man.

"I'm painting as fast as I can. You want the paintings to look believable, don't you? I shouldn't even be out here. I should be in the gallery greeting the guests and buyers. Don't you think it looks suspicious that the host of the event is nowhere to be found?" Powers fired back.

"Mr. Powers, we came to you over a month ago with this deadline. We told you that everything needed to be completed by tomorrow's date. You agreed that you could get it done. It is not our fault that you have not met the deadline. Do I need to remind you what the consequence will be if these two paintings are not finished by tomorrow?" the unknown voice said.

Prescott's voice got very agitated. "No! I told you I would have it done. Leave my daughter alone. She has nothing to do with this."

"We want to leave her alone, but if you're job is not finished by tomorrow's shipment, we have people in place, at her school, ready to take her at a moment's notice." The man stated.

"Listen, Howe- I told you I will have it done. Leave her out of this. What you are asking me to do takes time. I can't slap down any old paint over these paintings. Don't you understand that? If you want to be able to have your person remove what I have painted, I have to do this carefully. I wish I never agreed to do this for you." He said in a defeated manner.

"Well, agreed is a relative term, don't you think? We did tell you we would be expecting a favor down the road in return for making you CEO of Landin Corp. It was time to pay the piper. And don't think that we won't collect one way or another." Howe said. "Rickman, go call Kahn and tell him that the shipment will be ready to go tomorrow morning…..one way or another."

Paul and Amanda looked at each other and began to scramble to get out of the way. They dove around the corner just in time before they heard the door open. They remained silent as they listened to the footsteps get further and further from them.

"So that's how they're doing it!" Amanda exclaimed! "Prescott is painting OVER the masterpieces then they will ship them out and nobody will know the difference. I bet you that the painting I was showing you tonight is actually one of the pieces that we are looking for! When I asked him who painted it, he said a painter that wishes to remain anonymous. And when I asked him if he painted, he said no….then said that he used to paint. But look at this!"

Amanda held out the bottom of her white blouse. It had a smear of blue paint on it.

"What am I looking at?" Paul asked.

"This is a paint smudge. I didn't have a smudge of blue paint on me when I got this from the agency. I noticed it as I was talking to Mrs. Johnston. I was trying to figure out where it came from and then I noticed I had blue paint on my hand and I must have accidentally wiped it on my shirt. Then we noticed that she had blue paint on her hand in almost the exact same spot. I think we got it from when we shook hands with Prescott. He must not have realized he had paint on his hand."

"So, you think they brought the paintings here, had him paint over them and then are going to have them shipped out? Amanda, I think you are on to something here." Paul said in an excited tone.

Just then, they both heard the all too familiar sound of a gun being cocked. They both froze.

"Well, look what we have here? A couple of peeping Toms." Rickman said gesturing with his gun. "Get up and keep your hands where I can see them."

Amanda and Paul slowly stood up, hands in the air. Rickman frisked them and took Paul's gun. "Walk" Rickman said pointing to the door of the outbuilding. They did what they were told and walked through the door into the dimly lit room. Howe and Powers quickly turned to see who the uninvited guests were that were crashing their party.

"Found them outside in the bushes" Rickman said upon entering into the room.

"Really?" Howe replied. "And who do we have here?"

Paul just smiled at Howe and didn't answer.

"Found this on him. The woman was clean." Rickman said. Prescott watched with wide eyes as the scene continued to unfold. Howe looked intently at Paul. Amanda stepped forward between the two men.

"I'm Samantha Anderson and this is my husband, Cliff. We were just out for a walk in the garden and got a little lost when it got dark. We heard people talking and we were going to ask for your help before this nice man came upon us." She said with as straight of a tone as she could muster.

"Oh, really?" Howe said. "Out walking with a nice piece such as this? Who do you work for? I don't believe your story for a minute."

"I think she's telling the truth," Prescott interjected. "I overheard her talking to Senator Johnston's wife earlier and she called her Samantha. They were discussing buying some art work."

Howe looked at Prescott with a sour look on his face. "Shut up" he said. "Get back to painting. Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Howe then asked Paul.

"You heard my wife. What else would you like me to add? We would just like to go back to the main house where we can get our car and go home." Paul said.

"I'm sure you would, but I don't think so." Howe replied. "Take them outback and put them in storage."

Rickman nodded and indicated for them to go back out the door. Amanda began to assess their situation and tried to talk her way out of it.

"Storage? Is that really necessary? We could just walk right on back to the house and be no further bother to you at all." Amanda said wondering why Paul has not said much of anything or done anything to help them escape. As they walked to the back of the house, there was a hatch that was open. It was dark and had a set of stairs descending into the unknown.

"Go on, go down there." Rickman commanded. Amanda hesitated and looked back at Rickman and Paul. "GO!" he yelled.

Suddenly, Paul punched Rickman in stomach which caused him to double over. The two then began to struggle over the gun and accidentally crashed into Amanda causing her to fly backwards down the dark stairs. Paul heard a thud and realized what had just happened. In that moment, Rickman was able to get the better of Paul and cocked the gun. Once again, Rickman told Paul to go down the stairs. This time, Paul obeyed, not out of fear of getting shot but more to see what happened to Amanda. As he walked down the stairs, he began to see her crumpled form laying eerily still. He rushed to her side and found that she was breathing. She began to rouse making moaning sounds.

"Pick her up." Rickman said. Paul looked at him blankly. "Pick her up and move into the room over there."

Paul scooped up Amanda. Her eyes were open, but he didn't think she was really awake. They walked into a small room with a couch, a book shelf and not much more. There was one dim lightbulb barely illuminating the room. Paul carefully placed Amanda on the couch. She made no sound this time. As he pulled back his hands, he could see that there was blood on the one that was under Amanda's head.

"She's hurt. We need to get her to a hospital." Paul said with a bit of fear in his tone.

"Not my problem, Mr. Anderson…..or whoever you really are." Rickman said coldly. "We'll be back for you later…I think." He stepped out of the door and shut it. It was a great, heavy door that closed with a solid "thunk". Rickman ascended the stairs and closed the outer bulkhead door. They had been using the room to store the paintings, so no one would find them. Precautions had been taken to camouflage the bulkhead door with shrubberies and an old wheelbarrow. He placed the plants back in place and stepped back to look at his work. "By the time anyone finds you, we'll be long gone, and you'll be long dead."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Lee was almost giddy as he drove the empty streets in his silver Corvette. He was glad to be off the plane and on his way to see Amanda. It was now 11:08, he should be to her house by 11:15. Surely, she would be home by then. He couldn't wait to hold her, smell her hair, trace her cheek with his thumb and of course kiss her lips. He had only been gone away from her for a little over 24-hours but to him it seemed an eternity. As he pulled up to the house, he noticed that there were no lights on inside. Amanda's car was in the driveway. His heart leapt as he thought that she must be home, but then remembered that Amanda told him that Paul was picking her up. He figured she could still be home and had gone to bed already.

Lee parked the car down the street and began his walk to the backyard of Amanda's house. He peeked in through the kitchen windows. The house was quiet and still. The kitchen was tidy as usual with all the dinner dishes cleaned and put away for the evening. Lee then looked up to the windows on the second floor. There was no sign of life. No lights were on and he figured everyone must be asleep. He turned to head back to his car but then stopped. He needed to know that she was home safe. He had a bad feeling about this mission and he was quite sure that it was more than just her being out with Paul Barnes that was causing his stomach to churn. He searched his wallet for his lock pick. He had only done this once before when he really needed to see Amanda. In fact, it was last week. She had left his apartment after their evening together. He had asked her to stay but she couldn't, and he knew why. Try as he might, he tossed and turned and tried to fall asleep, but his mind was so full of her, that he needed to see her once more. He picked the lock and snuck up to her room. He stood and watched her sleep for a moment before he placed a hand over her mouth, so she wouldn't scream when she woke up. Amanda's eyes flew open in fear as she was ripped from her deep sleep. Almost instantly, her expression changed as she realized who was in her room.

"Lee! What are you doing? What's wrong?" she said in an intense whisper.

Lee smiled and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. He said nothing and leaned down to kiss her. His lips met hers and she pulled back for a moment. He sat on the bed next to her and just smiled. "I guess I missed you and needed to see you again. I tried to sleep but I just kept thinking about you." He said.

"How did you get in?" She asked.

He smiled sheepishly. "Regulation lock pick"

"You…." she started, "You broke into my house because you missed me?"

"Uh, yeah I guess that sums it up." He said not sure if she was getting angry at this idea or not.

Amanda looked at him for a moment and then placed her hands on his face. "I missed you, too." She said as she hungrily began to kiss him and pulled him on top of her. "Don't wake up mother and the boys." She said as he began to kiss her neck.

He laughed into her shoulder and then said, "I'm not the one that has trouble keeping quiet."

Lee shook his head and brought himself back to reality and the situation at hand. "Best case scenario, a repeat of last week, worst case scenario, her mother catches him and calls the police." He thought to himself. He stopped for a moment and then said under his breath, "No, worst case scenario-she's not here and is in trouble."

It took him less than 10 seconds to turn the tumblers and enter into the kitchen. Her purse was not where she usually left it. As he continued through the room, he noticed a note by the phone from Dotty. "Amanda- was falling asleep. Hope you had a wonderful night. Look forward to hearing about it in the morning. Love-Mother". Lee quietly looked into the family room and the dining room, just in case there was a stray person in either one of those rooms. Finding none, he began his ascent to her room. He deftly took the stairs 2 at a time and found himself at Amanda's door. He slowly peeked inside to find a made bed with no one in it.

"Damn! Where is she?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Paul realized almost immediately where they were-in an old bomb shelter. It was at least 30 years old. Sound proof, water proof and escape proof. Amanda started to stir, and he rushed to her side.

"Amanda? Amanda can you hear me?" he said. He grabbed her hand and it was very cold. "Amanda?"

"Lee?" she said.

"No, Amanda. It's not Lee, it's Paul. You fell down some stairs and hit your head."

"Paul?" she asked as she struggled to sit up but quickly changed her mind. "Paul, where are we?"

"What do you remember?" he asked her.

"We were looking for the art and then were told to go outside." She said weakly.

"Yes, that's right. That's a good sign that you remember that. I need to look at the back of your head." Paul gently lifted her head. She winced and moaned. The bleeding had stopped but there was quite a bit of it in her hair. "Amanda, you hit your head really hard and I think you have a concussion. Just lie still, ok?"

"A concussion? Oh…..is that why the room is spinning?" she asked.

"Yes, it is." Paul replied trying to hide his worried tone.

"Where are we? We should go to a hospital." She asked.

"We are in what I think is a bomb shelter. I'm working on a way to get us out of here. Amanda, I need you to stay awake as long as possible, ok?"

"I'll try. I really am very sleepy." She said in her still weak tone. "Talk to me. Keep me awake by talking to me."

Paul stammered for a moment. "Uhhh ok. I can do that. What should we talk about?"

Without missing a beat, Amanda said "tell me how Lee got the name Scarecrow. He won't tell me."

Paul began to laugh at the request. "Been sitting on that one for a while?" he asked.

"Yes, I have! I have asked him at least 50 times and he won't tell me." She said.

"Well, there is a good reason for that. I never told him. He doesn't know why I gave him the name, but under the circumstances, I will tell you."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Paul Barnes leaned back in his desk chair and put his feet up on his desk. He rubbed his tired eyes and let out a sigh. Reading all of these files on possible agents for his new special ops team was more time consuming than he had anticipated. Wondering if he would ever find more than one qualified candidate, Paul flung the latest file he had read onto the "NO" pile.

"Who are these agents we are recruiting? None of them seem like they could shoot a fish in a barrel let alone protect our nations secrets. Damn!" he said aloud with a mixture of sarcasm and defeat. Suddenly, a soft knock came upon his office door.

"Come!" Paul bellowed as the picked up the next folder from the pile. As the door opened, a puff of cigar smoke blew into the room. Paul knew it was Harry before he could even see him.

"What can I do for you, Harry?" Paul said from behind the file folder.

A low, deep, baritone chuckle emitted from Harry's throat as he pulled the cigar from his mouth and left it to rest between two fingers on his right hand.

"Guess my smoke gave me away!" Harry said.

"Yeah….rookie mistake from the founder of the agency. Makes sense why all our recruits seem to be such a mess!" Paul replied, obviously annoyed.

Harry looked at Paul a bit surprised and took a slow puff from his cigar. As he sat on the edge of the desk, he noticed the three stacks of files in front of Paul.

"What seems to be the trouble, Paul? No luck finding your dream team?" Harry asked.

Paul looked at Harry with a "you've got to be kidding me" look on his face as he quickly swung his feet of his desk and sat up sharply.

"Not hardly! Dream "TEAM"? Huh! I wish! I have looked through more than 50 candidates and have managed to find two that I think might be qualified. The rest are all duds, especially the new agents coming into the field! What the hell are they teaching them in their training?" Paul snapped.

Harry took in what Paul had to say and took a moment before he spoke. A big wide grin appeared on his face that made his ice blue eyes begin to sparkle.

"Duds, huh? All of them?" Harry said as he began to flip through the pile closest to him. "Maybe we should just shut down the agency." Harry said as he teased Paul. Paul was not amused. He arose quickly from his chair and marched over to the coffee pot in the corner of his office.

"Is there something I can do for you, Harry?" Paul asked as he refilled his mug.

"No, not really. I was just stopping in to see how the selection was coming. Who are the two that you have said yes to?" Harry inquired.

Paul sighed as he took a sip of the black coffee. "uhh, Fredricks and Rumsey I think are the names. Their files are right there." he said indicating to the smallest of the piles.

Harry picked up the two files and leafed through them. He nodded a few times as he read the documents and made some noises of approval in his throat. Finishing the last file, he looked up at Paul pacing back and forth across the room.

"What about that file that I gave you yesterday? I really think that he would be a good fit." he asked.

Paul stopped pacing and smirked as he looked straight into Harry's eyes.

"Stetson? Seriously, Harry? You think that Stetson would be a good fit?" Paul asked as he walked over to his desk, rummaged through the NO pile and retrieved the file in question. He began to read. "Stetson, Lee…..age 24, hired 1973…..excelled at physical fitness, gun qualifications and scored high….actually, VERY high on the agency exams."

Harry took another puff of his cigar and smiled. "See?" he said. Paul looked at him, said nothing and continued to read.

"Reprimands…..warnings-3, formal letters of reprimand-1. Reviews from superiors describe him as good with a gun, willing to take risks-too willing a majority of the time and arrogant. 'Does not like to follow orders'- written right here in his file, Harry. I can't have someone like that one my team. You know as well as I do that these are not milk runs we will be going on. The very fate of the world could LITERALLY be on the line with these missions. I need someone I can trust to do what I tell him to do. I don't need a loose cannon."

Harry stood up and paced a bit himself. He then crossed over to the couch and had a seat, leaned over the coffee table and put out his cigar, then he began to speak.

"Paul, I understand your apprehensions…."

"Apprehensions?!" Paul began. Harry held up a finger indicating for him to be quiet and listen.

"I understand your apprehensions", Harry continued, "but I tell you this is one that you need to have on your team. I have been watching him for a while now. His instincts are good, maybe the best I have seen. Yes, he needs reeling in from time to time, but what good agent doesn't? I'm not wrong about him, Paul. You need Lee Stetson on your special ops team."

Paul plopped down hard in the chair closest to Harry. His eyes were wide in exasperation and exhaustion.

"Why are you pushing so hard for this Stetson kid? He's barely been here 6 months and had hardly been a shining star." Paul stated flatly.

Harry thought a moment and answered. "Well, let's call it gut instinct. There is something to Lee Stetson and I know we haven't seen the best of him yet. He's got all the makings of a great agent, Paul. I know what you are trying to accomplish with your special ops team, and I am telling you that you will not regret having him as one of yours. You should give him a shot."

Paul leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He let out a long, drawn-out heavy sigh. Slowly he began to rub his temples.

"How about this", Harry began. "Take him on a smaller mission, see how he does. No one but me knows you are looking to assemble a team. Use it as a chance to see how he handles stress and takes direction. If I'm wrong about his abilities, then I won't say another word, but if I'm right, you put him on your team."

Paul opened his eyes to find Harry, leaned forward on the couch, looking him square in the eye, his bright blue eyes shining.

"Not one word if you're wrong?" Paul asked.

"Not a one….. but I know I'm not wrong." Harry replied with a smirk.

"Fine." Paul said flatly. "You've got a deal."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Lee started up the Corvette and began driving towards the agency. Picking up his car phone, he called Billy.

"Melrose, here" Lee heard on the line.

"Billy, it's Lee. Where the hell is Amanda? Is she there?" Lee asked.

"Lee? Where are you? I thought you were at requalifications." Billy demanded.

"I was. They let us out early. Long story. Where is Amanda? She should be back by now. She told me she was working with Paul Barnes on an easy assignment tonight." Lee said.

"She is. They're not back yet." Billy said.

"Have they checked in?"

"Lee, just go home and we can talk about it in the morning. I'm sure they're fine."

"Billy….HAVE THEY CHECKED IN?" Lee repeated.

"No" Billy said after a moment of silence. "But I'm sure they're fine"

Lee inhaled sharply. "I'll be right there." He said as he pressed the accelerator to the floor.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Jeffries?" Paul called out.

"Here" a voice replied.

"Makenzie?"

"Here, Sir!" a second voice responded.

"Stetson?"

A heavy silence filled the room.

"Stetson?" Paul's voice rang out again, this time with an annoyed edge to his tone. "Where the hell is Stetson?" He bellowed.

"Uh, he was right behind us a minute ago" Makenzie replied as she nervously twisted her auburn hair around her finger. Paul sighed in frustration and irritation. He was getting angrier with Harry by the second. Suddenly, the conference room door burst open and Lee Stetson ran in and quickly sat down beside Jeffries. "Uh, here….Sir" Lee said somewhat sheepishly.

"Nice of you to join us, Stetson. When I say 9:00, I really mean 8:55, not 9:07" Paul said in a military like fashion.

"Yes, ummm sorry. I got, uh, caught up with something." Lee said with a smirk.

Paul looked out the window to see Angela Martinez smiling and gesturing to the conference room as she spoke to Sue Racine, both from the steno pool.

"Ah, I see. Do your dating on your own time, Stetson, not on mine. Understood?" Paul said pointedly as he tossed Lee and the other agents the dossier on their assignment.

"Understood" Lee replied in a somewhat cocky manner.

Paul took a sharp inhalation of air as he opened the file and began to speak.

"The three of you have been chosen to accompany me on this top-secret mission in Berlin. We will be exchanging some rather sensitive documents with two of our agents over there. It will not be easy, and it has to be well executed. Timing will be of the utmost importance. It is imperative that you all read your files thoroughly before we get there. A lot of lives depend on the success of this mission."

The agents began to leaf through the pages that lay in the manila folders before them. In the documents they found the photos and descriptions of the two agents that would be involved in the mission: Alfred Nelson-Age 36, 6', black hair, blue eyes. Peter Calderman-Age 32, 5'8", black curly hair, brown eyes. Neither man had any distinguishing marks or characteristics to their faces. Paul cleared his throat and the three recruits turned their attention to him.

"Here are your tickets and travel instructions. We will rendezvous at the hotel in Berlin tomorrow at 0800. Hopefully you all remembered to bring your passports with you today. Any questions?" Paul scanned the faces of the three seated before him. Neither Makenzie or Jefferies raised their eyes from the file. Lee, however wanted to know more information.

"I have a question," Lee began. "What about Lukka? I have heard…rumblings I guess you could call them that he is our main focus on this mission? When are we going to learn more about him and his current whereabouts? Don't you think that is something that we need to know?"

Paul was a bit taken aback at Lee's question-both impressed that he knew something about Lukka and also irritated at his arrogance. Paul starred at Lee in silence for a moment before answering him.

"Lukka is not your concern on this mission. YOUR mission is to deliver the documents….that is all. You will do what you are told, when you are told. Period." Paul said flatly.

Lee let out a pointed breath of air. "Pfft…yeah, but if Lukka is there or anywhere near there, shouldn't we have the info? We could be so close to catching him. I know that I could….."

"Stetson, let me make one thing clear before we leave this room. There is one person in charge of this mission….ONE…..and you are looking at him. And you will do what I tell you to do when I tell you….and nothing more. Got it?" Paul said as he made himself look as big as possible.

Lee began to open his mouth to talk back to his senior agent, but then in the last second, thought better of it and closed his mouth.

"Well, then, If there's nothing else, I suggest we get going." Paul said. Jefferies and Makenzie gathered their things and headed for the door. Lee finished reading the last paragraph of his travel instructions and then began to rise.

"Let's go, Stetson. Better not be late again." Paul said in an authoritative tone.

Lee swung his jacket over his shoulder, gave Paul a small nod and headed out the door.

"I am already regretting this milk run with Stetson. He such a hot head, I know he's going to do something stupid…..going to go off halfcocked without thinking. I should have bet you money on the success of Lee Stetson, Harry-. I would have been a rich man." Paul said to himself as he shut off the light and closed the door.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Lee brought the silver car to a screeching halt in front of the Georgetown entrance to the Agency. It was too late for Mrs. Marsten to be there, so he used his key and pass code. The fastest way down to the bullpen and Billy's office was via the elevator. Lee pushed the button and began to pace as he waited for it to arrive. After what seemed like hours, but was only merely seconds, he walked over and pushed it again muttering a few choice words under his breath. Finally, the elevator arrived, and he stepped on, hastily pushing the coats aside.

Lee tried to convince himself that she had beat him back to the agency and that everything was going to be alright, but no matter what he was making his head say, his stomach had other ideas. He was sure Amanda was in trouble, bad trouble.

The elevator opened across from the bullpen. This time of night, there was usually a skeleton crew on. Tonight was no different, with one exception-Billy and Francine were there. Lee could see them in Billy's office walking back and forth around the room. Lee swallowed hard and strode across the room. He paused for a moment with his hand on the doorknob and then he opened the door. Billy and Francine were so engrossed in what they were discussing, it took them a moment to realize he was standing there.

"Any word on Amanda?" Lee said in a booming, baritone voice. Francine gasped as she was startled by Lee's interjection.

"Lee? What are you doing here? I thought you were at requalifications." Francine asked.

"I was. We got out early. Now is there any word from Amanda? Are they back yet?" Lee asked.

Francine began to speak but then looked at Billy. She didn't know what to say.

"Scarecrow, what are you doing here? I told you we have things under control. Go home and get some rest. I am sure they will be back very soon." Billy bellowed.

Lee drew in a sharp breath and tried to control his temper.

"Cut the crap, Billy and tell me what's going on?" He spit.

Francine quickly looked between Lee and Billy. She knew this had the potential to escalate quickly and that was the last thing they needed. Everyone was on edge and although she was glad to see Lee, his being here was only going to make things worse. She knew how he felt about Amanda and how Amanda felt about him. It was written all over their faces. The only ones they were fooling were themselves into thinking that no one knew. Billy had questioned a few times in passing if it was a good idea to continue to let them work together. He was so happy for them both, but also knew what danger emotions like that could be out in the field. But, he also couldn't deny that they were an outstanding team. Separating them would probably make them both inefficient agents, because their minds would always be on each other and not the job at hand. It was because of this that he needed to find Amanda quickly and without Lee. Billy was afraid that if he weren't careful, he could lose them both tonight.

"Lee, calm down and have a seat." Billy said in a calmer tone.

"Billy, I…"Lee began.

"Please, Lee. Sit down and we will tell you what we know." Francine said as she guided him to the chair.

Lee sat down and stared at them waiting for one of them to speak. The muscles in his temples began to dance as he clenched his jaw in anticipation. Billy began to speak.

"Amanda and Paul went undercover as Cliff and Samantha Anderson. They went to an art show to see if they could find out about some paintings that had recently been rediscovered."

"Rediscovered?" Lee asked.

Francine continued- "The paintings are thought to be 5 of those that went missing during WWII. We think they might be some of those that Hitler ordered taken to become part of his collection."

"OK, so what's the big deal. There's got to be more to the story than that. What is it that you aren't telling me?" Lee asked as calmly as he could, which wasn't very calm at the moment.

Francine shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, we think that the paintings are being smuggled out and sold for a nice hefty sum. We are quite sure that the money is being used to fund a terrorist group."

"Whose?" Lee said flatly.

Billy and Francine looked at each other before answering.

"Whose, damn it? Who is selling these paintings?" Lee said as he stood up from the chair.

"Max Kahn." Billy replied.

"What?" Lee said explosively. "Kahn? You let Amanda go out looking for Kahn? Are you out of your mind? He knows what she looks like. He will kill her in a second if he has the chance. Billy, how could you do this?"

"Lee, this was supposed to be an information collecting mission only. No contact, just some snooping. We needed Amanda to talk to Mrs. Johnston. We were hoping that she could give us some insider information. Amanda worked her brilliantly last time and we were hoping it would happen again." Billy explained.

"Yeah?" Lee said running his hand through his hair. "So, where is she? Why isn't she back yet?"

"We don't know." Francine said in a calm voice. "The last we heard from Paul was his 7:00PM check in. He said he expected to be leaving in about 30 minutes, just had to check one more thing out."

"Well, has someone gone looking for them? Find out where the hell they are?" Lee said with a sense of panic rising in his voice.

"Lee, you know as well as I do that protocol says to wait 8 hours before sending out a search party. We are still hoping that they will be walking through that door any minute. We have no reason to believe that they won't." Billy said, trying to convince himself as much as convince Lee.

"And you have no reason to believe that they will. Come on, Billy. This is Paul and Amanda we are talking about. Paul is a good agent. He's be here by now if there wasn't something really wrong and Amanda never does what she's told. Paul's not watching out for her like I….." Lee caught himself before he said too much. He just looked at Francine and Billy with fear that he tried to hide in his eyes. "Where were they going?" he said pointedly.

"Lee, we are putting together a team.." Francine began.

"Damn it, Francine, you can tell me now or I will tear this office apart until I find out myself. I'm not waiting 8 hours to confirm something I already know. They are in trouble and I'm going to go find her….them." Lee said.

Billy gave a slight nod to Francine. "You two head over to the Power's estate. I'll continue assembling the team and send them along. Call me the MOMENT you have any news. And for God's sake, be careful."

"Come on" Francine said as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

Lee took a moment and looked at Billy. Fear and regret of how he acted began to appear on his face. Billy walked over to him and put his hand on Lee's shoulder.

"It will be ok. You'll see. You will find them and everything will be just fine."

Lee nodded and walked out the door.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Paul paused a moment in his story telling to check on Amanda.

"Amanda? Amanda wake up. You have to stay awake. Are you with me?" Paul asked as he touched her face.

Amanda stirred slightly and winced the pillow shifted beneath her head. "Oh, my head hurts" She said.

"I know it does. You have a concussion, remember?" Paul asked.

"Yes, I know. It just really hurts a lot and my stomach feels funny." She said weakly.

"Try and stay still" he said as he covered her with a blanket. Paul then began to pace around the perimeter of the room looking for a way out. There seemed to be none. They were running out of time. He needed to get Amanda some medical attention and get out of this room before Howe came back for them.

"Paul, are you still there?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, yes I'm here." He said.

"Continue with your story about how Lee got his code name. I want all the details." She said as she attempted to smile.

Paul sat back down beside her and held her hand.

"Ok, I'll tell you. I'm just glad he's not the same little cocky bastard that he was back then! Where was I? Oh, the rendezvous at the hotel in Berlin."

Amanda began to nod but then thought better of it. She squeezed Paul's hand and let out a heavy sigh of pain.

"We all traveled separately in case someone should be on to us, it would be more difficult to catch us all. I was the first to arrive, Lee was second by about 20 minutes. I can still see him with his long hair, bellbottoms and that shirt with the huge collar and loud print."

"Bellbottoms? Long hair?"" Amanda asked.

"Oh yeah. You have to remember it was the early 70's. That was all the rage and Lee thought he was just the cat's meow. Unfortunately, so did the girls and that didn't help his enormous ego. I sat across the lobby from him, just watching, trying to see in him what Harry saw. All I saw was a longhaired, arrogant jerk that I didn't want on my team, but I had promised I would give him the benefit of the doubt on this one mission.'

Paul's mind traveled further back to that morning. He remembered sitting in the lobby, unnoticed by Lee.

"That's at least the 3rd girl I've seen him hit on since I've been here. 20 minutes have gone by and he hasn't noticed his lead agent sitting across the room from him. Not good." He thought to himself. Paul then noticed Agent Jefferies enter the lobby and go to the check in desk. About three minutes behind him was Makenzie. Paul checked his watch, 0730. It was time to head up to his room. He stood and began for the check in desk.

"Guten morgen, Herr Barnes" a voice said behind Paul.

Paul turned around to see Lee looking at him with a shit eating grin on his face.

"I believe you will be wanting this," Lee said as he handed Paul his key. "You are all checked in and if you follow me up to your room, I will fill you in on what I have learned about the place we are meeting Nelson and Calderman and some other juicy details that just kind of, well let's say…..fell into my lap."

Paul angrily snatched the key from Lee's hand.

"What the hell do you mean I am already checked in? Who checked me in? You?" he asked in a tone so pointed Lee could feel each word stabbing into his chest.

"Well, I…" Lee began.

"Did it ever occur to you, Stetson that we are not supposed to know each other? Not supposed to be acquainted? Now that you have checked me in, there is no doubt that we are indeed just that!." Paul said with a cold, cold glare at Lee. "you do what I say, when I say it and NOTHING more. Got that?"

Paul then got very close to Lee so that only the two of them could hear what was being said.

"Being an agent isn't a game. It's not an excuse for you hit on women and travel the world. We're not in a spy movie here. People's lives are at stake and sometimes, the fate of an entire country. If you want to be taken seriously in this business, I suggest you shape up and FAST. Do you even have a brain in your head? Don't go off on your own, pay attention to your surroundings and for God's sake, get a haircut!"

Paul stepped back and looked at Lee. His brows were furrowed, his jaw was set and his teeth were slightly showing. Lee just stared back at him, eyes wide, and swallowed hard. Turning quickly on his heel, Paul started to the elevator to head up to his room.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"Lee! Slow down! You're going to get us killed" Francine said as she gripped onto her seatbelt for dear life.

Lee ignored her commands and continued to zip along the back roads of Arlington at least 90MPH. The Corvette was happy going speeds that fast and Lee had had enough practice driving these back roads that happened to be in the direction of Amanda's house, that he knew every twist, turn and curve that lay ahead of them.

"Lee! I'm serious! We're not going to do them any good if we're dead!" "She shouted once again.

"I'm in control, Francine, and we're also not going to do them any good if we are driving like a grandma." Lee downshifted as he hugged the sharp turn ahead of them. "Why the hell did Billy send Amanda out with Paul? Couldn't he have handled this by himself?"

Francine smirked a bit. "Do I sense a hint of jealousy?"

"What? NO! I'm not jealous" he tried to convince Francine. "But you know Amanda. She doesn't do what she's told, and Paul won't watch out for her like I do. She is likely to walk right smack into the middle of something and not even know it."

Francine thought for a moment before continuing responding.

"As much as I hate to admit this…Amanda has become a decent agent. She has a good head on her shoulders and I think by now she knows how to avoid walking into the middle of something."

Lee let out a small hiss through his teeth.

"Well, ok maybe not all the time. OK, she does still walk into the middle of things from time to time, but she's smart. She won't panic. If they are in trouble, and that is a big IF, she will be able to handle it. She will be ok."

"She had better be," Lee stated, "or there will be hell to pay."

Without saying another word, Lee pressed down on the accelerator and sped faster down the road.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

The team was in place inside of the Schönes Essen restaurant waiting for the British agent, Bastow, who was to bring them the information about the East German defector. It was a simple drop of information to one team and a transfer to the next know as the relay. Paul and Makenzie were in place ready to receive the information. As he scanned the restaurant, he saw Jefferies at the coat check ready to get the message from Bastow. Paul then looked for Lee. NO sign of him. He picked up his glass and began to take a sip as he looked again over the rim of the glass, frantically scanning the room.

"Damn it!" he said to himself. "Not only am I not accepting Stetson into my special ops force, I am going to make sure that he is out of the agency for good." his inner dialogue continued.

"Möchten Sie etwas zu trinken?" the waiter asked.

Makenzie turned around to answer the waiter and let out a small gasp.

"Möchten Sie etwas zu trinken?" the waiter asked again with a slight smile on his face.

Paul stared at the waiter in disbelief. Before him was a well-groomed, short-haired Lee Stetson dressed in a black tuxedo with a white cloth draped over his right forearm. Paul hated to admit it, but Lee had pulled one over on him. He had noticed that waiter before but took no mind as to who he was. The long-haired, unkempt Lee was who Paul had been looking for.

"I'll be damned." Paul said under his breath.

"Mein Herr, gnädige Frau?" Lee said as he bent down to take the couple's drink order.

"Nein danke." Makenzie answered.

"We are all set to receive the info. Jefferies and I have worked out a signal." Lee said as he turned to get the drink order from Paul.

"Good. Get it me as soon as Jefferies gives you the handoff. Two lives depend on this information. The window to get them out is very small. If we miss it, that's it." Paul said.

"Don't worry, Mein Herr. I won't let you down." Lee said as he stood up and gave the couple a slight nod and continued to the bar. Makenzie and Paul watched him walk away, but for quite different reasons. Paul was still in disbelief that that was the same shaggy Stetson that he had dressed down a few hours ago. He began to see the man appear from the shell of the boy that he knew. He wondered if there was actually something to what Harry had said about Lee. Maybe he would make a decent agent someday. Makenzie liked very much what she saw. Lee was a lot of things, but damn did he wear a tuxedo well! She found herself lusting after Lee in a way she never had before.

"Wow! I can't believe that was Lee!" Makenzie said in a tone that was bordering on being too loud.

Paul quickly grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Keep your voice down, darling. We don't want to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves. You never know who else could be here. Lukka wants this information as much as we do, maybe more."

Makenzie smiled and brushed the hair away from Paul's face. The smile on her face was sweet and calm.

"Oh, I know that is absolutely true." Makenzie said in a mellifluent tone. "If we only knew what he looked like."

Paul gently placed her hand on the table and tried to not let the frustration show on his face.

"Trust me, that is something I have been thinking about nonstop for the past 6 weeks." Paul said. "I can't believe after all this time, we still don't have anyone that is willing to identify him or can even give us a description of what he looks like. It's like the man is made of smoke."

"Don't lose hope. Maybe this information that we are getting tonight will help flush him out." Makenzie replied.

"Maybe," he said flatly. "That's not my main concern with this drop. I just want to get the two men out. They will be carrying a lot of very valuable information with them that will hopefully give us an edge in this whole Cold War."

Lee causally strolled up to the table and placed the drinks before Paul and Makenzie. Handing Paul a rather thick menu, Lee began to speak.

"May I interest you in tonight's specials? The spaetzel is especially tasty this evening. You can find it in the back of the menu. I will give you a few moments to review the offerings." Lee said as he smiled and walked away.

Paul immediately turned to the last page of the menu. There, taped to the back cover was a small, sealed envelope. Paul glanced up from the menu and made eye contact with Jefferies who nodded and exited the restaurant. Pretending to drop the menu, Paul bent over to pick it up, removing the envelope from its hiding spot. Makenzie's eyes widened as she saw how effortlessly Paul removed the envelope, put it in his pocket and replaced the menu on the table all in one swift movement. She was so impressed that she wasn't watching what she was doing and knocked over her champagne flout spilling the bubbly liquid all over Paul's lap as some of it splashed up hitting her right in the chest. He instinctively pushed his chair back to escape the cold river flowing from the table. Mortified, Makenzie picked up one of the cloth napkins and began trying to dry off the champagne that now dampened Paul's lap.

"Damn it," Paul said as he pushed her hand away. "Never mind! It doesn't matter now. We've got to get this info to the next drop."

"Go!" She said. "I'm going to clean up and I will be right behind you."

Paul nodded at Makenzie as he stood up and headed for the front door. Makenzie stood and tried to avoid disturbing the liquid that had pooled on the table. She gingerly reached over the wet tablecloth and grabbed her clutch. Lee watched her surreptitiously from the coat check where Jefferies had been stationed. He watched her walk across the restaurant and head towards the restrooms, where she stopped looked over her shoulder and exited out the back door of the restaurant.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Lee and Francine peered in the windows at the Power's Estate. The only people they saw inside were servants cleaning up from the party.

"Lee! Come on! We need to get inside! A house this big, they could be anywhere!" Francine said in a hushed whisper.

"Nope, they're not inside. We need to go around back." He plainly stated.

"How do you know that?" She questioned.

Lee paused for a moment and then answered. "I don't know how I know, but I do. Call it a gut instinct. I know I'm right. We need to go around back."

Francine rolled her eyes. "You've been hanging around Amanda too long. That sounds like something she would say."

Lee quickly held his arm out stopping Francine from moving forward. He continued to press into her until she had no choice but to be flat against the wall of the house. Lee help up his index finger to his lip, indicating he wanted her to be quiet. They could hear the mumblings of male voices. The two began to creep slowly forward toward the small outbuilding. A dim light glowed inside. As they got closer, the mumbling became more articulated and Lee began to be able to make out words.

"Why can't you just box up the ones I already finished? I need a few more days to make this one look authentic." The first man said.

"How many more times do I need to tell you that the whole shipment has to go NOW, not in pieces. You've got one hour to finish or you're finished, get it?" the second replied pointedly.

Lee and Francine were able to catch a glimpse of the men inside.

"That's Reggie Howe. I haven't seen him since I helped put him away in Istanbul 5 years ago. What the hell is he doing here?" Lee said in an intense whisper.

"Howe has camp up on our radar yesterday. Word on the street is that he is trying to get transportation out of the country for him and some significant amount of cargo. It's got to be the paintings" Francine replied.

"It can't just be the paintings. How much space and a few paintings take up? No, there's got to be more than that he's trying to smuggle out. I think we should call for back up." Lee said as he cocked his gun. Francine nodded and began speaking into her walkie-talkie.

"Eagle one, come in eagle one. This is baby bird."

"Go ahead baby bird, this is eagle one." The bass voice replied

"Requesting to add to our flock. A big migration is about to take place, over." She replied.

"Affirmative. 2 flocks are on their way. Any sign of the missing birds, over?" Billy asked.

"Negative, over."

"Understood. Over and out."

Lee looked at Francine. "What the hell was that? Baby bird, migration? Did we get new codes and no one told me? What are we on, Sesame Street?"

"Actually, yes and no. New codes, in the memo sent out last week. Seems like you didn't read it. And Big Bird is on Sesame Street, not baby bird." Francine replied as she, too, cocked her gun.

"No, Francine! You need to stay here and wait for the backup teams. They won't know where to find us. I'm going to go and look for Amanda and Paul." Lee said.

"Lee, you know that's too dangerous to go on your own. You should have back up. Wait with me for the teams." She urged, but Lee ignored her and moved closer to the brown-shingled building on his own. He was now able to get a better look inside. He saw Howe and the man that he assumed to be Prescott Powers sitting at an easel gesturing to a painting. He could not see any other people in the room. Lee worked his way over to the next window and peaked inside. The room he saw was also empty except for a chair. A pit began to grow in his stomach. Perhaps Francine was right and they were inside the main house. He thought for a moment, trying to decide if he should abandon his search for them out here and head to the main house, or continue looking. And if he was truly being honest with himself, he didn't even know if Amanda and Paul were still even on the property. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. As he looked down towards the ground, he saw something catch his eye. It was an earring- a sparkly, diamond earring, just like the ones Amanda told him that the agency wardrobe department gave her to wear tonight. Lee clasped the earring tightly in his hand.

"Hold on, Amanda. I'm coming!"


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Paul walked down the street towards the next drop. He didn't have time to wait for Makenzie. It was imperative that the information Lee gave him get to Nelson and Calderman as quickly as possible. As Paul walked along at a quicker than average pace, he began to think. He wondered what had been wrong with Makenzie this evening. He had worked on a few missions with her over the last year and had never known her to be as clumsy and unfocused as she was tonight. And then she spilled that huge glass of champagne all over him. Terror shot through his head as he wondered if the envelope had gotten wet. What if the message inside was unreadable? Paul plunged his hand into his jacket pocket where the envelope was tucked safely away…or should have been tucked safely away. It was gone! He stopped and turned out his right jacket pocket and then his left, to no avail. There was no envelope found within. He then thrust his hands into his breast pocket, his pants pockets before going back to the original jacket pocket…..all empty. What had happened to the message? He had to find it!

Moving now at a light jog, Paul headed back to towards the restaurant, frantically searching the sidewalk for any sign of the missing envelope. His heart was in his throat now as the magnitude of losing the envelope began to set in. Two agents would be dead because of him- not just agents-Men. Men with families and loved ones, men with lives. He began to run faster. Maybe it had fallen out of his pocket in the restaurant and was still there. Was there enough time to get the information to the next drop? Had he blown it all together? Then, right there before him, he saw it…the scene that he will never forget; Lee standing there with his gun drawn on Makenzie, her hands in the air.

"Stetson! What the hell are you doing?" Paul yelled.

Lee smirked. The muscles in his temples danced for a brief moment as he clenched his jaw, all the while not taking his eyes off of Makenzie.

"Saving this mission." He said calmly.

"Saving this mission? Are you crazy? Put your gun down!" Paul commanded.

"I can't do that, sir. You need to trust me on this one." Lee paused for a beat and then continued, "Let me guess, you realized the envelope was missing out of your pocket and you headed back here to find it."

Paul looked at him with amazement.

"How the hell did you know that?" Paul asked.

"Because I saw HER take it, picket it right out of your pocket when she spilled the champagne on you. You were so shocked, you didn't even notice" Lee said casually.

Makenzie shifted uneasily. Her eyes grew wide as she felt begin to stare at her.

"That's ridiculous! I don't have it! Look for yourself!" She said offering up her clutch purse. Paul snatched the purse from her hands and began to look through it.

"Stetson, there's nothing here." Paul said in a mild panic.

Lee chuckled. "Of course there's not! Do you think she'd be so dumb as to put it in her purse? She tucked it into the front of her dress." Lee chuckled again and gestured with his gun. "Go ahead, check it out."

Makenzie started to protest. It was then that Paul noticed a small sliver of white sticking out of the corner of the V-neck of her dress. He walked over and pulled on it, revealing the missing envelope. Paul and Makenzie both shared a look of shock and amazement, quickly followed by anger on the face of the leader of this mission. Paul then drew his gun and pointed it at Makenzie.

"Why? Why did you do it? What were you thinking?" Paul asked in an almost begging tone. He then checked his watch. "Damn it! It's too late! The window has closed, it is too late! You've killed those men!"

A cold smile began to form on Makenzie's face as her left eyebrow raised in triumph.

"I could kill you for this, Makenzie!" Paul said, red-faced as he took a step closer to her.

"Lukka." Lee said.

'What?" Paul asked, very confused.

"Lukka. That is Lukka. Not Makenzie." Lee said triumphantly.

Makenzie's eyes widened, and her mouth was wide enough to catch flies.

"What are you talking about, Stetson? I have no time for nonsense now. Two men that were depending on us are dead and you are standing here spouting off nonsense." Paul said exasperatedly.

Lee went over to Makenzie and began to cuff her hands behind her back, nodding towards the black car that just pulled up alongside them, driven by Jefferies.

"Get in" Lee said.

The three of them made their way over to the car. Paul sat in the front seat with Jefferies while Lee sat in the back with Makenzie keeping his gun on her at all times.

"Paul," Lee began, "Would you please open the envelope that you took from Lukka, or Makenzie….whatever you want to call her?"

"Open it?!" Paul exclaimed. "Damn it all to hell, Lee, we need to stop fooling around here and get this to the drop. Who the hell do you think you are? I'm the one in charge here, not you!"

Lee looked at Paul, his green eyes dancing with excitement. "Trust me…please."

Their leader was flustered and red-faced. He obviously was having trouble wrapping his head around what had just happened. Paul ran his thumb under the flap and ripped open the envelope. Letting out a heavy sigh, he pulled out the paper and began to read aloud.

"Paul-this is not the real message, but Makenzie needs to think that it is, that is why I still delivered it to you at the restaurant. I have figured out that she is Lukka- the one you have been looking for all along. Jefferies took the real message to Nelson and Calderman. By the time you read this, the two East Germans should be safe."

Paul looked up from the letter, his jaw agape, and looked first to Lee and then to Jefferies.

"You took the message to the drop? You got there on time?" he said pointedly to Jefferies.

Jefferies nodded and simply replied, "I did."

"How did you even know where the drop was? I'm the only one who knew!" Paul questioned.

"Well, not the only one. Makenzie here knew, too. Didn't you?" Lee said punctuating with his gun.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied.

"Of course, you don't." Lee said with a heavy dose of sarcasm. "You see, she let it slip last night that the location of the second drop had been changed. I thought this was curious because, you had just reminded me, Paul, that you were the one in charge and no one, absolutely NO ONE, else knew the details of the second drop. I was on my way back to my room when I saw her coming out of yours. Again, since you had just reamed me a new one, I knew you weren't in your room, so I wondered why Makenzie had been coming out of there. I ducked into a supply closet and then went into your room."

"You went into my room?" Paul said in a tone that said he had had enough of this whole story.

"I did…took no time at all to pick the lock." Lee said with a smile. Seeing that the smile was not returned, he continued with the story. "Uh, anyway, something didn't feel right about the situation, so I decided to see for myself what she was doing in your room. There was nothing out of the ordinary in your room at all, except for the small pad of paper on your night stand."

"What was odd about a pad of paper on the night stand?" Paul asked.

"Oh, nothing except the paper was a light blue and I noticed her putting a light blue piece of paper in her pocket as she came out of your room. So, I did a rubbing of the pad to see what I could get off of the blank paper that had been underneath the sheet that had last been written upon. I got the address of the drop and the names of the two East Germans. I really didn't think it meant anything until she let the name of the street, Brahmsstraße, slip after her 3rd Scotch. I then went back to my room and reviewed the case files you gave us the first night we were here. Each of the missions involving Lukka had one thing in common, you, Makenzie." Lee said as he looked at her.

"She was the agent assigned to the case, Lee! Of course, she would be involved in every mission." Paul shouted as the ran his hand over his very tired face.

"No….not exactly, Paul. It seems that our Miss Makenzie got herself assigned to the Lukka cases by some not so noble means. You may want to dig a little further into the murder of Agent Billings when we get back. My gut said she couldn't be trusted." Lee said matter of factly. "So, Jefferies agreed to take the message to the drop while I provided carried out the original assignment at the restaurant."

"But how did you know I was Lukka?" Makenzie demanded.

Lee's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he looked at her. His smile went ear to ear and he let out a soft chuckle. "I didn't, until you just told me."

Makenzie glared at Lee. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come. The car came to a stop and the passenger door flung open on the side where Makenzie sat. A pair of hands reached in and pulled her out. Lee got out of the car and opened Paul's door. Paul got out of the car as quickly as he could.

"Still want us to take her?" the agent said as he grasped onto Makenzie.

Paul looked at Makenzie for a moment, she refused to make eye contact with him. He then turned his gaze to Lee who stood there with a smug look on his face. Turning back to the agent, Paul simply said "Yeah."

The three men watched the agents take Makenzie away. None of them spoke. Paul began to pace back and forth, which was never a good sign. Lee knew that Paul was about to explode and he couldn't understand why. He had solved the mystery of who Lukka was. She was notorious for terrible things all over Europe and the USA for at least the last 6 months. Paul should be thrilled….AND the 2 men they were here to save made it out of East Berlin safely. So why wasn't he congratulating him? Paul continued to pace. Lee untied his bowtie that seemed to be getting tighter by the minute. Suddenly, Paul stopped. He slowly raised his head and looked squarely at Jefferies. "Go back up to your room and pack. I will be up shortly to debrief with you about today." His tone was firm, calm but deadly serious. Jefferies swallowed very hard and walked away into the hotel.

Lee now began to undo the top button on his shirt. He felt as if he could no longer easily get a breath. His turn was next, and he knew that Paul specifically spoke to Jefferies first so that he could be alone with him- no witnesses. Paul began to speak without looking at Lee.

"I am not even sure where to begin, Stetson. I didn't want to take you on this mission, not even a little bit. You are cocky, arrogant….your mind, if you even have one, is on scoring with the ladies instead of your job, until a few hours ago, you looked like a damned hippie….I knew that it was a huge risk taking you, but I figured all you had to do was pass me a message and how hard could that be? Right?" By this time, Paul had continued to pace but this time around Lee. Lee began to have flashbacks of the dressing down's he would receive from his uncle that was military through and through. Lee felt himself straighten his posture to its fullest height and reminded himself to breathe. "You then have suspicions about someone on OUR TEAM, and what do you do? Do you talk to me about it, your team leader? No….YOU TAKE IT UPON YOURSELF TO CHANGE THE ENTIRE MISSION!"

Lee opened his mouth to speak. He only got the word "Well.." out before Paul shut him down.

"You could have gotten all of us KILLED! Not to mention Nelson, Calderman AND the two East Germans! What the hell was going through that empty head of yours? You are not some hot shot agent that is on assignment by himself. You are part of a team and as part of a team, you do not go off making decisions like this one on your own!" Paul's voice was now becoming more intense but more silent. That was more terrifying than his loud voice. Lee wanted this lecture to be over. "AND…COME TO FIND OUT…..you didn't even know for sure that Makenzie was Lukka. It was all a hunch. You risked everything on a damn hunch!" Paul stopped talking and stopped pacing. He then stood very close to Lee and simply said, "Go pack your bags and head to the airport." He then turned on his heel and walked away. Lee slowly let out the breath that he didn't realize he had been holding and ran his hand through his hair.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"Amanda? Are you still with me?' Paul asked.

"Yes," she said weakly. "My head really hurts. Is there any water?"

Paul looked at her small form lying on the couch. Her breathing was slow but steady. Every once in a while, she would wince when she would try to move her head. Paul brushed back the hair from her face and gently squeezed her hand. "No, I'm afraid there's not."

"I'm really thirsty," she said in a hushed tone.

"We'll be out of here soon. Just hang on. Besides, I'm about to tell you how the Scarecrow was born. It was a few days later and we were back in the states. I was in my office when Harry came in to see me."

SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK

Paul was seated at his desk when Harry strolled into the office and shut the door behind him. With him, he carried a white orchid plant that he gently placed on the coffee table and had a seat on the couch.

"Is that a peace offering for insisting that I take Stetson with me?" Paul said sarcastically.

Harry laughed. "Do you need it to be? I thought you had a pretty damn successful mission! Got out the two East Germans AND took down Lukka, and from what I hear, Lee was a very big part of the success of it all. Am I wrong?"

Paul got up from his desk and walked across the room to Harry. He sat heavily into the arm chair opposite the couch. He sat for a moment and ran his hands through his hair and let them rest on his face. Harry looked at Paul with a small amount of concern. Suddenly, Paul removed his hands and popped his head up.

"Damn it, Harry, I hate when you are right! Stetson is a damn good agent, damn good. I couldn't believe it when he tricked Makenzie into admitting that she was Lukka! I worked with her for months and never once suspected her. He worked with her for a few days and figured it out."

Harry leaned back and once again chuckled. "See? I told you! Some of the best gut instincts I have ever seen, if not the best. I seem to remember you calling me shortly after you arrived in Germany and telling me that he was a nightmare, a brainless hippie I believe you called him."

"And don't forget arrogant as hell." Paul added as he also chuckled. "And can you believe that he actually cut his hair?"

"Did you have something to do with that?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. I had to yell at him within the first 15 minutes of the mission. I ended the lecture by telling him that he had better shape up if he wanted to be taken seriously and to get a damn hair cut!" Paul began to laugh thinking about that.

"And he did it!" Harry interjected. "Looks good, too! Will make him much more useable in the field. Gives him that James Bond type of look."

"Oh, God, Harry! Don't tell him that! His head is big enough!" Paul said.

Harry was silent for a moment and looked at Paul. His bright blue eyes sparkled as his thoughts formulated in his mind.

"So, are you going to follow through on our agreement?" Harry asked with a gentle tone but serious as a heart attack.

Paul took a beat and then answered. "You know, Harry. When you first brought up the idea of Stetson on my special ops team a few weeks ago, I thought you had completely lost your mind. I never in a million years thought that I would even consider him, but now.."

Paul became silent for a moment. Harry tried not to show any emotion on his face as he eagerly awaited Paul's answer.

"Now I have to say that I think he would be a very good fit for the special ops. I've got to make it clear to him that he can't go rogue again. If he does, I may just kill him myself. But, yeah…..I think he will be a very good addition to the team. He really is a good agent." Paul concluded.

Harry smiled. "Did you tell him that?"

Paul quickly answered, "Hell, no! He wouldn't be able to handle it. His ego would get in the way. It's better if for the time being he's still afraid of me."

"Not going to let him see the real you, huh? You want him to see you as the Wizard of Oz and not the man behind the curtain." Harry added.

Paul laughed at this. "Yes! Yes that is it exactly…exactly! It's better for him to see me as the all-knowing, all powerful Oz right now that he is afraid to piss off or disappoint."

"How is the rest of the team coming?" Harry inquired.

"Happily, I think I finally have found a good group of people. I think we will be a great special ops group." Paul said.

"Have you come up with a name for this group yet?" Harry wanted to know.

The lightbulb went on in Paul's mind and his face shone with excitement. "Yes, Harry. I think I just did."

"Well…." Harry said as he waited for the name.

"I'm not quite ready to reveal it just yet. Still kicking around a few last-minute ideas." Paul replied, his mind growing deeper in thought.

Harry stood up from the couch. "Well, very good then. I'm glad that you saw the brainless hippie in the same way that I saw him. He will be a good addition to your team. I will leave you to your thoughts, oh great and powerful, Oz!"

Harry gave a nod of the head and shut the door behind him.

"Thank you, Harry. You just gave me the last piece of the puzzle….a name." Paul said in a very satisfied tone.

~Two weeks later~

Lee stepped into a conference room in a part of the agency that he didn't even know existed until about 10 minutes ago. He didn't recognize any of the people in the room, save for one-Paul Barnes. A lump formed in his throat as he made eye contact with Paul. What was this room? Who were these people? Why was he there?

"Stetson, please take your seat and we can get started." Paul instructed Lee.

"I would like to take a moment to welcome you and congratulate you for being chosen to be on my special ops task force. You have been hand selected, by me, to be a member of this unit because you are seen as the best of the best. We will be doing TOP SECRET missions that will be much more dangerous than anything you have been involved with before. All information about these assignments are to be kept confidential, and I mean that with the strictest of meanings. Because what we will be doing will be so dangerous and so top secret, you will not refer to anyone by their actual names, but by their code names only. This group will be named 'The Oz Network, and you will refer to me as The Wizard."

Paul began to pass out folders to each of the people in the room. Lee began to wonder if he was called to this meeting in error. There is no way that Paul Barnes would have chosen him to be on his special ops team. Lee watched as he handed out the folders to the men across the table, to the woman with the brown hair that sat next to him….there was once folder left. Lee swallowed hard thinking that this was the moment that Paul realized that Lee wasn't supposed to be in this room. Then suddenly, with a "SLAP" the folder was tossed onto the table in front of him. Lee quickly opened the folder and saw his picture staring back at him. Beside the picture, written in big bold letters were the words "CODE NAME: SCARECROW". A huge smile spread across Lee's face. Paul smirked at him and began to walk away, whistling "If I Only Had a Brain".

Paul heard Amanda attempting to laugh as she heard the conclusion of the story. Her face winced in pain, but that didn't stop her from laughing.

"So….the brainless hippie, became the Scarecrow. Very clever, Mr. Wizard." Amanda said as she attempted to focus on Paul.

He smiled and said "well, once Harry compared me to the Wizard of Oz, it all just clicked. I thought the Oz Network was a great name for the group and that Scarecrow fit Lee so perfectly. When we first meet the scarecrow, we think that he is pretty dumb because he has no brain. But as we get to know him, we realize that he is actually the smartest one of them all, and that is Lee."

"yes, that is…" Amanda began.

Suddenly, they heard a great crashing on what they assumed was the door that was sealed behind them. It was unclear if someone was coming in or trying to bring down the building around them. Paul stood up and moved closer to the sounds. He looked around the room for something to use as a weapon. He grabbed a folding chair and made himself as flat as he could against the wall. The banging noises stopped but were soon followed by sounds against the door. Paul lifted the chair above his head and prepared to swing at the first thing he saw coming through the door. Slowly, the door opened. Paul began to swing but stopped abruptly when he heard. "Amanda? Amanda are you in there?"

Lee came through the door, gun drawn. Francine was close behind him.

"Scarecrow?" Paul said in a shocked tone. "Scarecrow, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass! Where is Amanda?" Lee replied.

"She's over there on the couch. She's got a pretty bad concussion. Maybe a cracked skull, I'm not sure. You better get NEST here." Paul said. Francine looked at Lee and then nodded. She went back out to make the call to the NEST medical team. Lee rushed to the couch where he saw a very frail looking Amanda. Her neck and shoulder were stained with blood and he could see her hair was matted with more of it.

"Amanda? Amanda, can you hear me? It's ok, I'm here. We're going to get you out." Lee said as he gently brushed his thumb against her cheek.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. "Oh! It's you! The brainless hippie!" she said with a giggle.

Lee looked at Amanda, very confused. "Amanda, it's me….Lee." He stared at her for a moment and then addressed Paul. "How long has she been speaking gibberish like this?"

"She's not speaking gibberish. I was just telling her the story of how you got your code name." Paul stated. "I wanted to talk to her about something to keep her awake and that's what she wanted to know."

Lee looked at Paul astonished. "You told Amanda how I got my code name? I've asked you about 1,000 times and you refused to tell me! But you told Amanda?"

"Well, it's on a need to know only basis, and she, well…..needed to know." Paul said with a smirk.

Amanda squeezed Lee's hand refocusing his attention on her.

"Lee…." She began to speak, an obviously painful process in her condition.

"Shhhhh! Amanda don't try to speak. The medical team will be here soon." Lee said. He gestured to Paul to go find Francine and see where they were. He gave Paul a signal indicating that it was all clear up above. Paul left in search of answers.

"Lee," she began again, "I didn't like being on this mission without you. I really missed you. I'm glad you're back. How did you find me down here?"

"Well…gut instinct, mostly. I knew where you were and came and found you. I can't really explain it." He said.

She squeezed his hand again and said, "You don't need to."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Amanda sat propped up in her hospital bed. After three days of doing nothing but sleeping, she was feeling stiff and wanted to go home. Her mother and the boys had just left the hospital. She was happy to see them but was also getting sleepy.

"Knock, knock" a velvety baritone voice said from the partially opened door.

Amanda's face lit up as she saw Lee enter the room with a large bouquet of flowers.

"Oh, Lee, you shouldn't have." She said.

He squirmed a bit uncomfortably, "I, uhhh, I didn't. These are from Paul. He got called away on another assignment and he wanted you to have these. He stopped by a few times but you were always.."

"Sleeping" they said together.

"Well, they're beautiful. You can just put them over there." She gestured to the shelf near the window. Lee pulled up a chair and sat next to Amanda, taking her hand in his.

"You look much better today, Amanda. I have been worried. How are you feeling?" Lee asked.

"I am feeling better. Mother and the boys were just here. It was good to see them, but I'm getting pretty tired." She said as she yawned.

"Oh, then I should go." Lee said as he started to stand up. She gripped his hand tightly and pulled him down as much as her weaked condition would allow her to.

"No, that wasn't a hint for you to leave. Stay. I haven't seen you in days. I miss you." Amanda said.

Lee leaned over to her and kissed her very softly on the lips. "I missed you, too" He whispered.

Amanda scooched over in the bed and patted the empty space next to her. Lee smiled and slid into the bed beside her. Amanda placed her tender head on his chest. The sound of his breathing and steady heartbeat gave her great comfort.

"Lee? What happened the night you found me? I don't remember much after the NEST team arrived. What happened to Prescott Powers? Did they find the art?" She asked.

"Well, once the backup team arrived, we got Rickman and Howe. Rickman was easy to take down, Howe….well Howe should have just come quietly. If he had, he wouldn't be dead right now." Lee said flatly. Amanda knew by the tone of his voice that it was something he didn't want to talk about right now. "Prescott Powers was also caught. He really was just a middle man. Got involved with something he shouldn't have and then couldn't get out. We managed to recover 3 of the paintings. The other ones, we're just not sure if we will ever see them again. Paul is off trying to find the other paintings because he is sure they will lead him to Kahn."

Amanda let out a sigh. "Well, I'm glad things worked out…..I guess."

Lee began rubbing her back with the arm that cradled her. "You know, I was really scared when I saw you lying on that couch. You didn't look so good. Thank goodness that you didn't have a cracked skull or a broken neck!"

"Ummhmmm" she replied as she let Lee's soothing touch lull her to sleep.

"Yeah….and to think that of all the things Paul could have talked to you about to keep you awake, it…..uh…it was the story of how I got my code name." He said as he continued to rub her back. "You know…..I've asked him many times to tell me, and he won't. That's the type of thing I think someone should know, don't you think? Maybe you could just tell me the shortened version….Amanda?...Amanda?"

Lee waited for a reply but received none. He listened to her slow heavy breathing and felt her soft body grow more limp against his own. He knew she was sound asleep in his arms.

"Well, my Amanda," he whispered into the top of her head, "I guess that story will be for another time." Gently kissing her forehead, Lee closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep with the woman that he loved safely in his arms and forever in his heart.


End file.
